Flawed Design
by cherry valence
Summary: Life is moving forward in the Queen household. After an accident, they are in for the change of a lifetime. Oliver/Felicity, Roy/Thea, a touch of Quentin/Donna.
1. Chapter 1

Flawed Design

Chapter 1

. . .

Summary: Life is moving forward in the Queen household. After an accident, they are in for the change of a lifetime. Oliver/Felicity, Roy/Thea, a touch of Quentin/Donna.

Note: Diving back into the game. Thanks for all the love in the past.

. . .

Felicity was nursing a cup of coffee over her computer, making mental notes of the changes she needed to make to the network at the Arrow Cave. They were way over due for an update, and for the first time in ages she had the time to do it.

"Raisa won't be here today." Oliver told Felicity, handing her over a cup of coffee. "Her daughter is having her baby."

"That's fine. We'll figure it out." Felicity told him, looking away from her computer. "What do you have on the menu for today?"

"I'm in meetings all day." Oliver told her, "I can cancel my morning with the police chief….but the rest of the afternoon I'm not sure."

Or maybe not, she realized. It could wait. Work was going to have to take a backseat to parenting today. It was ridiculous for Oliver to cancel meetings for this. She could get a head start early tomorrow. Besides, this would give them some time to bond over something over than homework, and she enjoyed watching him do his sports.

"To take William to softball practice?" Felicity took a sip and shook her head, "No, I can take him."

"Are you sure? I thought you were busy."

Busy was relative, she thought. Oliver had a busy work schedule, she on the other hand had a bit more flexibility in their day to day life.

Oliver was dishing up the frittata he had made them for breakfast. Her mouth was already watering. His cooking had only improved since Ivy Town, and as much as she hated him for his easy prowess in the kitchen, she certainly loved the results.

"Besides, I wanted to see what the deal is with this baseball thing. Maybe I'll see William score a touchdown."

Oliver cringed, and at the same time William walked into the kitchen with a groan.

"Felicity, are you trying to talk sports again?" William laughed.

She frowned at the judgmental pair of men in her life. Really? She was doing her best. That was not her element. Felicity made a mental note to do some research into baseball.

"Felicity is taking you to softball practice." Oliver said, handing his son a plate. "You may want to give her a quick review."

"Well, there are no touchdowns in baseball." William told her, "That's a start."

Felicity rolled her eyes.

"Don't blame me because they all have their own lingo."

"Where's Raisa?" William asked, "Not that I'm not happy to teach Felicity something new."

"Her daughter had her baby today." Oliver said, taking a seat at the table with them. "We'll have to send a gift over to them."

Felicity contemplated that. She supposed Oliver was right, and she had seen some awfully cute clothes the last time she had gone shopping with Lyla. All things considered, she was kind of excited to join William at his softball practice. She really enjoyed the time that they spent together, and days like this, mornings like this they just seemed like such a normal family.

. . .

Felicity swore under her breath as they left the field. A tv news crew had arrived at the park at the end of practice to do an interview with the coach about their winning streak. When they caught sight of her and William they crowded them and began shouting questions, asking about Oliver, about his policies and she realized she had been crazy to think they would cut them any kind of break because he had William with her. If anything, they wouldn't leave him alone.

He was quickly becoming overwhelmed when Felicity snapped.

"Get the camera out of my son's face." Felicity shoved the camera away, and grabbed William's arm.

The slip of tongue entered her mind in passing, but she just tried to pretend it hadn't happened. She knew in her mind, in reality that he was not her son, he had a mother that loved him that he lost, but it didn't change how much she loved him. She was sick and tired of the media trying to target him though.

They pushed their way through the small group, and as she got William into the car she realized that this was probably going to backfire on her. She still could not believe that they could get away with harassing a kid like that. She was sure there would be something unpleasant about her on the news tonight.

As she got into the car, she still heard voices shouting after her but she slammed the door shut and turned the key in the ignition.

"Felicity, what was that about?" William asked her.

"Harassment." She said shortly, before taking a breath and sighing as they pulled out of the lot.

"I don't know. Probably a slow news day. Your dad is a popular target just because he's mayor. As a matter of fact, it's probably for the best we don't tell him about this."

Oliver would be irate that the media had rushed at them again, and he had enough on his plate to deal with right now.

As they reached a red light, Felicity turned to look at him. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." William didn't mention the slip of tongue she'd had, so Felicity decided not to address it either.

At least not now.

She was eager to get back home with him as quickly as possible. It wasn't a secret to him that the news hadn't had much that was good to say about Oliver, but lately it had gotten worse. They had begun to dig into his past and his personal life and she didn't want William to be a victim of that.

Less than a mile from home, William glanced at her.

"Felicity, there's a news truck following us."

She bit down on the retort that was on her tongue.

"It's fine." Felicity told him, "Nothing to worry about. How about some takeout when we get home?"

"Big Belly Burger?" William suggested.

That suggestion, and the passing thought of having to add some more cardio to her workout routine was the last thing she remembered before seeing a truck sailing through the intersection on her right hand side. In that short moment, she could only think of one alternative, and jerked the wheel so that it wouldn't impact on the passenger side where William was sitting. The blinding white lights and the crunch of the impact on her side was the last thing she registered. Then everything went black.

. . .

His ears were ringing, and the impact had jarred him sharply.

William was jerked back against the seat by his seatbelt and felt dazed for a minute before he realized fully what had happened.

Quickly, he realized that Felicity wasn't saying anything. His stepmother was slumped over the wheel. He shook her shoulder in a panic. For a moment, the only thing he could think of was that she was dead. That he'd lost someone he loved again

"Felicity!" William shook her harder, " _Felicity_ , wake up!"

When his senses came back to him, he reached into her bag and punched the numbers for 911 into the phone.

"We need an ambulance, please." William begged into the phone. "I'm in an accident with my step-mom. She isn't conscious. I don't know if she's breathing."

"Where are you?" the voice asked.

"In the intersection at Posner and Main, right next to the pet store." William reported, trying to stay calm.

He saw so much blood. She looked lifeless.

Everything was going to be okay. It had to be okay. It all had to be okay.

The woman offered to stay on the line with him while they waited for an ambulance. He told her no and disconnected the call.

"Felicity?" William shook her again, and bent in close to her. "Please wake up."

He thought she was breathing, it felt like she was breathing, but when he pulled his hand away from her head it was covered in blood.

William took her limp hand in his and waited. He already lost one mom, he didn't think he could lose another.

"You're going to be okay Felicity. You're going to be okay."

The next few minutes felt like a whirlwind of action. He couldn't follow what the paramedics were doing, all he could answer was yes and no. He remembered standing with one of the women who placed a bandage on his cheek. Apparently he had cut himself in the crash.

In the ambulance, he had to sit up front. He didn't want to leave her but they told him they couldn't help her. It was there that it occurred to him. He needed to call his dad.

He should have called him already.

The paramedic tried to tell him that he didn't need to. That there would people at the hospital who would do it, but they didn't understand. They wouldn't listen to him, they wouldn't let him stay with her, but they would listen to his dad.

William found his phone in the pocket of his pants and punched in his dad's number. The first time it didn't pick up. He did what his dad told him to do in an emergency and called Mr. Lance.

. . .  
Quentin Lance answered on the first ring to his relief. When he saw the number he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. William Queen would only call for an emergency.

"Mr. Lance," William's voice shook, "I need to speak to my dad. It's William, it's an emergency."

He knew it. Quentin said a small prayer that the kid and Felicity were okay. Oliver could take a lot, but he couldn't ever handle losing his son or wife.

"I'll get him right away." Lance assured him, "Are you okay?"

He'd had a call like this once before, and as a father and a husband there was not anything worse.

"We're in an ambulance. There was an accident."

Quentin pushed open the doors to Oliver's office, and interrupted the meeting quickly.

"Oliver, I need to talk to you. Right now." Quentin gave a firm look. "Out here."

Oliver quickly excused himself, apologizing for the inconvenience.

Quentin pulled Oliver into his office. "There was an accident. William is on the phone, he seems okay."

"William, are you okay?"

"Dad, Felicity was hurt. We're in an ambulance. I don't…"

As soon as Quentin saw the pained look cross his face he knew that something terrible had happened.

"I'm on my way. William, just stay calm, I will be right there."

Oliver tossed the phone at him.

"There was a car accident. They are on the way to the hospital. It's Felicity...she's hurt."

Quentin stood there, holding the phone in his hands and watched as Oliver bolted down the hallway. He hoped and prayed to God, that once, just once he would be on their side.

Oliver raced into the hospital, feeling an overwhelmingly painful sense of familiarity. He hadn't been this scared since he had been here after Felicity had been shot. He glanced around the emergency room trying to find his son, but William found him first and ran over to him.

"Dad!" William cried.

Oliver pulled him in close after looking him over. "Are you okay?"

"They just took her away. They didn't say anything; they won't tell me where she is." William said in a thick voice.

Oliver kissed the top of his son's head.

He was scared. He didn't have any details. He'd almost lost Felicity once, and he could not bear for it to happen again.

"Everything is going to be okay." He squeezed his shoulder, "Give me a minute."

William sat back down in the cold, hard chair and Oliver turned to the counter, addressing the nurse behind it.

"My wife was brought in after a car accident. Felicity Queen, where is she?"

"If you wait a moment…" The nurse looked up from her computer, recognition crossing her face. "Mr. Queen, I'm sorry but you'll have to wait on her doctor. Your wife had to be given CPR at the scene and they are currently stabilizing her…she wasn't wearing a seatbelt."

He was stunned. That wasn't...that wasn't like her at all. This was the same girl that would not get on her motorcycle because there wasn't a restraint.

"That's impossible." Oliver was stunned and angry that no one would let him see her. "My wife…"

He scrubbed his hand through his hair with frustration. He needed to see her, he needed to be with her right now.

"Sir, I'll let the doctor know you're here."

Oliver tried to steady himself before returning to William. None of this seemed like it could possibly be real.

"She forgot. We were in such a rush." William had clearly overheard the conversation he'd had with the nurse. "Dad, she forgot."

"William, what happened?"

"There were reporters, and she got mad at them. She pushed a camera in someone's face and we rushed over to the car." William's eyes were screwed up tight like he was trying to remember something difficult. "They raced over to the car and she left as soon as she turned the key. Dad, they followed us when we left."

Oliver was irate, and was struggling to keep his temper in check. All he could do was wait, and stew in his anger. The media had made a commitment, they had sworn that his family would be off limits. And now this. 

William wouldn't leave, and Oliver wouldn't argue, he was focusing all of his efforts on Felicity and trying to hold it together. Once he'd finally spoken to her doctor, he had been informed that she had suffered a pneumothorax. Her left lung had collapsed and they had to put in a tube to re-inflate it. They told him that it would be a waiting game, and they would need to see if that was sufficient, or if surgery would be needed. She'd also suffered a concussion and a broken arm. All of the possibilities, all of the danger that she was currently in circled through his mind like a broken record.

 _If she hadn't jerked the wheel, that young man would be in a hospital bed instead of her._

Those were the words that would haunt him forever if she wasn't okay. Felicity had put herself in danger to protect his son, and they wouldn't even let him see her. He was irate, he knew he needed to be with her. She was in pain, and she was going to wake up scared and he needed to be with her.

Oliver was pacing around the waiting room, never imagining that they would be here in this place again. She was never supposed to be in danger. She was never supposed to be hunted down by the news, certainly not with his son in the car. He didn't understand how any of this happened.

He was snapped out of his reverie when Quentin arrived.

"What's happening?" Quentin asked directly. "Is there any news?"

Oliver shook his head. "They're putting a tube into her lungs. They collapsed in the accident. They won't let me see her."

Quentin took this in for a moment, and placed his hand on Oliver's shoulder.

"She's strong, she's going to be okay." Quentin cleared his throat, "This isn't important right now, but the police department is on top of this. Nothing is going to slide this time, there are some men I trust our there."

"Thank you." Oliver managed in a terse voice.

Quentin glanced in the direction of William. "How is he holding up?"

"Felicity…" Oliver sighed, and turned away from William. "She saved his life. The police told me that she jerked the wheel. The impact was all on her side."

"I'll take him to get some food, get out of the hospital for a bit. You need some food too."

"I'm not hungry." Oliver said, "William refuses to go home."

"Okay." Quentin sighed and clapped him on the shoulder. "I spoke to Donna a while ago. Her plane lands in a couple hours. William and I will go and get some food and we'll be back with her."

Oliver didn't bother to ask how his mother-in-law was doing. He didn't have to imagine because he had broken the news to her over the phone and she had been hysterical. They got her on the first plane possible, and nothing he said could make it better. He had made a vow that he would always keep her safe, and he had failed.

"Thank you." He said simply.

. . .

Quentin directed his attention to William, unable to imagine what he was feeling. As much pain as he felt losing his daughters more times than felt possible, he couldn't imagine the pain and uncertainty he felt. He'd lost his mother, suffered a traumatic experience, and now this.

"I'm not going home." William told him flatly.

"I didn't say anything." Quentin said, settling into the chair next to him. "You're being really strong for your dad right now, he's going to need that. It's brave."

William didn't respond to that for a long moment. "I should have told her that I love her."

Quentin felt those words like a stab through his heart. He thought the same thing when Laurel died, he felt like he'd never said those words to her enough.

He wrapped his arm around the kid's shoulders and gave him a gruff hug.

"She'll like to hear that when she's up and moving around." Quentin said, "While you're being so tough, I need you to do something for me."

William gave him a skeptical look.

"I'm pretty worried about your dad right now." Quentin felt like it came easily, because it wasn't a lie. "Can you come with me to get some food, make sure he eats something?"

William nodded his head. "He hasn't eaten anything all night."

"And then I need a second favor." Quentin told him. "Donna is going to be at the airport soon. It'll mean a lot to her to see a familiar face."

"I heard her crying...on the phone with my dad." William nodded his head, "But I'm not going home, I want to be here when she wakes up."

"And I promise you will be." Quentin told him. "Go tell your dad we'll be back in awhile."

When William got back, Quentin settled back for a moment. Nothing went right in this city. Oliver seemed to try again and again to make things right again, make this a city you could raise your children in, but he didn't know how much more tragedy any of them could overcome. For now, he was going to hold back on the rest of the details. He wasn't going to tell Oliver that the driver of the truck was drunk and he wasn't going to tell him that the driver had currently escaped the police. It would only make it worse.

. . .

He sat silently next to the bed, and held her hand. Felicity had a long cut along her cheekbone and forehead. He could still see where blood had dried into her hairline. Her clothes had been cut away when they treated her and she'd been dressed in a hospital gown. Her arm was in a cast, and when he'd browsed her chart he saw that she had extreme bruising, and that it could be so much worse.

He'd been told that as long as she did not need surgery to repair the tear in her lungs, she was looking at a direct recovery. It didn't make him feel much better. It looked like she was in pain and the thought of that broke him.

Supposedly she would wake up soon. Donna and William would be back soon, everything seemed to hinge on soon.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, sitting in the room and clinging to her hand when she awoke from her drug induced sleep slowly, and then all at once.

"Where is William?" She demanded.

The words stuck in her throat, and she cringed as the small movement caused her pain.

"Do not move." Oliver told her. "William is fine...thanks to you."

He didn't specify further, didn't get into the actions that lead to her being in the hospital bed. He didn't know if he would ever feel this relieved again. He would never be as relieved as he was in this moment to see her wake up and speak

"He's with Quentin. They've gone to get your mother." Oliver hovered over her, making sure she didn't move.

He saw her cringe again.

"What hurts? I'll get a doctor." He jumped to call for help.

"Everything. I don't want a doctor." Felicity laid back against her pillow. "He's okay though?"

"William is fine. He has a small cut on his cheek, but he was wearing his seatbelt."

As he said those words, he could see the change in her face as she recalled. He realized it was the truth, she had forgotten.

"I forgot."

"William told me why, what happened." Oliver explained, "Don't worry about it now. Everything is going to be okay."

"Are you sure he's okay?" Felicity asked. "It happened so fast. I hardly saw it coming."

"Felicity," Oliver brushed his lips over her forehead. "You probably saved his life."

"I'm okay." She said quietly. "Don't look at me like that."

"Felicity, I love you." Oliver pressed his lips to his forehead. "Don't do this to me. Ever again."

For a moment, they just sat there in grateful silence. He was relieved that she was okay, and she was that William had been fine.

The moment of silence was broken shortly after at the door.

"Felicity!" William exclaimed, rushing over to the bed. "You're okay. You're awake! "

He threw himself toward the bed to give her a hug and Oliver could see the cringe of pain in her eyes and pulled him away.

"Not right now." Oliver cautioned him, "you can hug later."

"It's okay." Felicity reached as best she could to take his hand. "How are you feeling?"

Oliver stepped slightly back, giving her and William the moment that they both needed. He was reminded again by what an incredible mother that she had been to William. He didn't-couldn't imagine how he ever could have done all of this without her.

"I'm fine." William clung to her hand. "Donna and Mr. Lance are right behind me."

Felicity sighed, settling her head back into her pillow.

"I'm really glad you're okay William. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" William was surprised, "Felicity, you saved me and you got hurt. I'm sorry."

Felicity pulled him closer and Oliver couldn't hear what was being said, but gingerly William placed his arms around her neck and hugged her.

"I love you too." William said softly.

Before Oliver could suggest that he give Felicity some space Donna rushed into the room, looking nothing at all like Oliver had ever seen her before. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, and she was dressed in flip flops, sweat pants, and a T-shirt.

"My poor baby.". Donna practically started crying again, her eyes red with tears. "I got here as fast as I could."

"I can tell." Felicity smiled. "I'm glad you're here mom."

Donna rushed over, but unlike William, she refrained from a hug and kissed the top of her daughter's head.

"How are you feeling?"

"Well in the grand scheme it's not as bad as being shot and they've given me like, all of the painkillers, so I am pretty okay."

"Well." Donna stepped back and tried to straighten out her T-shirt.

She looked to Oliver.

"Quentin and William tell me you haven't eaten since you got here. There are sandwiches in the waiting room with Quentin and you can come back after you've eaten."

Oliver brushed her off. He wasn't leaving his wife.

"I'm not hungry, Donna. Thank you, but I'm fine."

"Oliver." Donna said his name with a no nonsense tone. "You are going to go and take ten minutes to eat something."

"I'll be fine." Felicity instructed Oliver. "Eat something."

Resigned to not win this battle he turned away.

"William, have you eaten?"

"Mr. Lance and I had burgers." William said. "I want to stay."

"Let him stay with us." Felicity said, glancing at the now spare chair in the room

Oliver went with it. Before leaving the room he gave her a kiss.

"I'll be right back." Oliver said quietly, "I'll be just outside."

. . .

Donna was chattering away anxiously, and Felicity allowed it. All of the pain medication that they had given her left her passing in and out of the conversation in a slight daze, and she picked it up in snippets.

She had a faint feeling of guilt that was nibbling at the edges of her consciousness. She'd forgotten her seatbelt, she hadn't seen the truck until it was too late. She felt terrible seeing the cut and bruises on William's face and realizing that she hadn't been able to protect him.

It could have been worse, she reminded herself. At least he was okay.

She felt guilt seeing the pained look on Oliver's face. More than anything though she was angry that they'd had another setback when things were going so well. She couldn't wait to be out of this bed and back home. She hated hospitals before, and now it was so much worse.

"Mr. Lance is still single."

Felicity rejoined the conversation when she heard William's interjection and saw her mom's face become flushed with embarrassment.

"William, what does that have to do with anything?" Donna asked, feigning ignorance.

She didn't do it as well as she thought she did, Felicity thought.

"Maybe you would like to get dinner with him." William said in a considerate, thoughtful tone. "I think he's lonely."

Donna changed the subject.

"Felicity, sweetie, how bad is it? Do you need to get some sleep?"

"I'd rather be at home. That's how I feel."

She felt especially irritable, and foggy. A part of her realized that at some point the pain was going to kick in. She'd never asked Oliver what they had done, but she could feel the lingering soreness in her chest and head.

"Well, I don't imagine that will be happening anytime soon." Donna said in a matter of fact tone. "But you have all of us here with you."

"Oh!" William exclaimed, "Felicity, we brought you something."

William reached for a bag on the floor and pulled out a fern.

Felicity recalled the first fern she'd ever bought for Oliver after he'd began living in the bunker.

"Oh…" She smiled. "Thank you William."

"Dad told me that is one of the first gifts you ever gave him. I thought it looked nice."

For a moment, they all sat quietly, and her mind wandered until Donna excused herself.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Donna asked the question for the fifth time after deciding she needed to use the restroom. "I can go get Oliver first."

Felicity rolled her eyes.

"Mom...I'm fine. Besides," She glanced over at William. "I've got this guy."

"Okay." Donna sighed, "I'll be right back. Two minutes."

Donna rushed out of the room, and Felicity settled back.

"I got you something else." William said in a conspiratorial tone once Donna was gone.

He carefully snuck a chocolate bar out of his chocolate and slid it into the drawer next to her.

"Mr. Lance said you couldn't have outside food, that it's contraband."

Felicity laughed for the first time and felt a slight sting in her chest.

"What's a couple broken rules among family?" Felicity smiled at him, "I hate hospital food."

"We should sneak in some big belly burger." William said, "Mr. Lance is a killjoy."

She fought the urge to laugh again.

"Well you can take the cop out of the precinct, but you can't take the cop out of the man."

William was laughing, but stopped abruptly when a very serious looking doctor walked into the room.

"Mrs. Queen," The doctor gave her a deferential nod.

Usually, she would get a slight shiver of glee being referred to as Mrs. Queen, but this time it felt less pleasant. This didn't look like the face of a man with bad news.

"We have some test results I'd like to talk to you about. Perhaps your son would like to wait outside."

Before Felicity could suggest to him that he go and get Oliver, William jumped up.

"I'm going to get dad."

"If you don't mind," Felicity said, "I'd really like to wait for my husband."

"That is completely up to you." The doctor said with a nod of his head. "We can wait."

They'd barely waited a minute. Oliver rushed into the room, and though she could see that he tried to keep his face even-no she could see through it, he was scared. She knew that look all too well.

"Mr. Queen," The doctor shook his hand and gestured for him to sit down.

In a typical Oliver move, he stood by his side. She couldn't help but to feel a little better with him at her side.

"My name is Dr. Irglova and I work as a specialist in the hospital. Your tests were passed over to me, but before I continue…." The doctor glanced over to them, and Felicity found herself grabbing Oliver's hand and squeezing.

It couldn't be any worse, she told herself. She'd already faced the worst, she'd been paralyzed. She reminded herself it could not get worse. At least this time, she could feel her legs.

"Mrs. Queen, were you aware before the accident that you are pregnant?"

Felicity felt like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. When she was finally able to breathe again, she looked at Oliver and saw that he had paled considerably.

"What do you mean?" Felicity found the words first. "I'm...I use birth control."

It didn't seem possible. She was so careful.

"Which is not one hundred percent effective." The doctor reminded her. "The preliminary tests show us that there don't currently seem to be any ill effects as a result of the accident. But your case has been passed over to me, as I deal with complicated and high risk pregnancies."

"Can you…" Oliver's question was stunted, he'd seemed to lose track of what he was trying to ask. "Are you certain there hasn't been any harm done?"

She could see the guilt on his face, and she wanted to yell at him for it. It was not his fault. Even knowing what she knew now, she would have done it again.

"Right now, everything about the pregnancy seems completely normal. Should you decide that you plan on carrying through with the pregnancy, we will continue to monitor the baby. Of course, you're welcome to get a second opinion."

She was sure that there were questions that she should be asking, but she couldn't seem to find her way toward asking them. Right now the only thing she could try and do was reconcile the idea that she was pregnant. She and Oliver were going to have a baby, their baby.

It had never seemed completely out of the question, but it was also something that she just hadn't considered. Not with their lives, not now. How were they going to do it? Thank God they had Raisa. Oliver had felt guilt enough returning to his mantle as the Green Arrow before, what about now? What was he thinking? She couldn't, not even in this moment consider the alternative.

She'd always said she'd never have a child before she was ready. But was she? Were they? What was he thinking? How would William handle this?

"Felicity?" Oliver turned to look at her, "Felicity?"

She could tell by the look in his eyes that he had attempted to get her attention a few times.

"Hm?" It was hard to process this in her dazed state.

"Are you okay?"

"We're having a baby." She felt a chill run through her body as she said the words. "Oliver, what are you thinking?"

"I love you." Oliver said, leaning in carefully to give her a kiss. "I know we didn't plan for this. What are you thinking?"

"When have we ever planned for anything that happened in our lives?" Felicity almost giggled, it was sort of par for the course for them. "We are going to have to give Raisa a raise."

"Felicity, I-"

Whatever Oliver was about to say was cut off as William walked back and knocked on the door.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course." Felicity said softly, her mind still wandering as she thought of everything they had just taken in.

"Mr. Lance convinced your mom to go home and get some sleep. "William said, "She's coming back to say goodbye. They said I should go to."

"You should go home with your dad and get some sleep." Felicity told him, "Give me a hug kiddo."

William complied with the hug, but argued with the request. "I want to stay."

"I'm not going." Oliver said with a terse shake of his head, he smiled down at her. "Nice try though."

"Besides, you can't stay alone." William said reasonably. "I want to come back tomorrow."

Oliver seemed to consider this.

"I'll call your school." Oliver agreed, "You can come back with Donna tomorrow. If you go home and sleep for at least 8 hours and eat breakfast."

"Donna says she'll make us breakfast." William said, frowning.

"Oh god." Felicity seemed horrified, "No. You do not eat anything she cooks, do you hear me?"

William laughed, and Oliver rolled his eyes. Felicity grabbed his hand and looked him square in the eye.

"Do not let her use the oven."

"Be good." Oliver gave his son a hug. "You've been a superstar today William, I am so proud of you."

William looked embarrassed, "Okay."

He gave Felicity one last hug. "I'll see you in the morning."

After he left, it occurred to her. She looked at Oliver.

"We should have told him. We should tell him first."

"We will." Oliver assured her. "You've had a long day, I think we can just take a moment together."

After a quick goodbye from her mother, she started to drift off. The last thing she remembered was Oliver telling her to relax and get some sleep and that was it.


	2. Chapter 2

Flawed Design

Chapter 2

. . .

Long after Felicity fell asleep, Oliver had a fleeting thought. His head felt so full. He remembered Thea saying that when she was little.

He had to call her back. Thea had been hysterical when they called. She wanted to come back. She and Roy were somewhere in India and ready to hop on the first plane back. He'd told her to stay and she wasn't happy.

More than anything, he realized he wanted to tell her. He was going to be a father again, and he swore he would do it this time. At first, in the moment the doctor had announced that Felicity was carrying their baby he had felt consumed by guilt. She had put herself in danger, she had put herself and their baby in danger to protect his son. Oliver knew that she would never see it that way, he never doubted that Felicity loved William any less than she would love their son or daughter, but the thought of it consumed him. He didn't think he would ever forgive himself if something had happened.

He wanted this with her more than he had ever wanted anything in his entire life. It felt like everything was coming together.

Finally, he couldn't handle it any longer. He kissed the top of her head and slipped quietly just outside of the room.

His wife was okay, and they were going to have a baby.

Quickly, he punched the call button and waited for his sister to pick up the phone.

For a moment, he was stunned by the deep male voice on the phone.

"Oliver? What's happening?"

A moment passed and he realized it was Roy.

"Everything is good right now. Stable. Felicity is sleeping."

It was amazing how relieved he felt to say it. She was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay.

Roy exhaled. "Thank god. I know what you're going to say, but we're at the airport. Thea is getting the first flight out of Delhi, and you're not going to change her mind."

Oliver shook his head, he knew he should know better.

"That's fine."

He heard a scrabbling of voices, and before he could say anything else he heard Thea's voice.

"Ollie! Ollie we are on our way back right now. Roy said she's ok? Is Felicity ok?" The hysterical note of panic had yet to leave her voice.

"It's okay. She's okay right now. We're going to be in the hospital for awhile but she's stable, sleeping right now. William is at home." Oliver took a deep breath, "Speedy, I need to tell you something."

When she didn't immediately correct him for calling her Speedy, he knew she was worried about him.

"Felicity and I are going to have a baby. She's pregnant."

For a moment, he couldn't hear anything coherent. He realized that she was relaying the news to Roy, and he realized he just might have screwed up. They had made an agreement, Felicity had wanted William to be the first to know.

"Speedy! Thea!" Oliver hissed as loudly as he dared into the phone. "You cannot tell anyone. Anyone. I promised…"

He sighed, he was an idiot. He hadn't been thinking. Something had just snapped in his brain.

"I promised Felicity we would tell William first."

"You idiot." Thea told him over the phone. "The baby is going to be healthy right? Fine?"

"Right now the doctor gave the all clear. They don't think the baby was harmed at all. Everything seems normal."

Thea squealed, "Ollie! A baby!"

Oliver felt the idea settling in, and was almost scared to be as happy as he felt. It killed him that he had missed out on so much of William's life. Ten whole years.

"I'm doing it right this time, Speedy." He said quietly.

"Our lips are zipped, I swear." Thea said, "But...talk to Roy for a second, tell him...I mean I did, but I have to do something. We'll see you in about ten hours."

Oliver almost laughed, and then heard Roy's voice again.

"Oliver, we are so happy for you." Roy said, in a much calmer tone than Thea took. "You and Felicity are going to be...incredible parents."

"If she doesn't kill me for spilling the beans." Oliver glanced into the room. Felicity was still sound asleep. "Keep an eye on Thea, will you? I love her, but secrets aren't her strong suit."

"Always." Roy said, "I'm really glad they're okay. We were…"

Roy seemed like he was about to say something else, and then changed his mind.

"We are just relieved."

"We'll see you two when you get here." Oliver told him, "I have to get back to Felicity."

"Of course." Roy said, "Wish her the best from us."

"I will." Oliver assured him.

He returned to her room and settled down into the chair next to her. For once, the bad had come with some good.

. . .

Felicity kept coming up with excuses to put off telling anyone about the pregnancy. The first day had been bad because she was on too much pain medication, the second day was the same, the third day her mother wouldn't leave the room and she wanted to tell William on her own. On the fourth day, she reminded Oliver about how he had told Thea without him and how furious she was, on the fifth day she ran out of excuses.

"Felicity why not?" Oliver finally pushed, "You said you wanted to tell him first? What's wrong?"

She knew what was wrong from the beginning. On her second day in the hospital, it occurred to her loud and clear. What if this hurt him? William had been through so much. What if he thought that he was being replaced? What if he thought that they wouldn't love him so much? He'd been through more in a year than most people went through their entire lives.

"What if he isn't ready?" Felicity finally managed to vocalize her fears to Oliver. "What if he thinks that this means that we-you-love him any less? Oliver…"

"He knows how much we love him, and that isn't ever going to change." Oliver assured her. "I think William knows us better than that, but it's your choice. We can tell him when you're ready."

Later that day, after her mother left to get lunch with Quentin she realized she was ready. She wanted him to know, and she wanted it to be just the three of them.

She was sitting up in bed, fully disgusted by the food that she'd begrudgingly eaten for lunch to please Oliver, William on one side of bed, and Oliver on the other and realized-she needed him to know.

"William," Felicity glanced over at Oliver. "There's something your dad and I need to talk to you about."

She'd practiced it in her head over and over and over again, but in this moment she'd lost any eloquent way to express this.

William looked concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"Sort of the opposite." Felicity said.

She desperately hoped that he wouldn't see it as bad news.

"It's good news." Oliver stressed, waiting for Felicity to take the lead.

Felicity took a breath and hoped for the best.

"Your dad and I just found out that we're going to have a baby, so...you're going to have a brother or sister."

Both of them waited. Felicity was stunned by his reaction.

William jumped up and gave her a hug.

"I really hope it's a sister." William said, his eyes shining with excitement. "I can't wait. That's pretty cool."

For a moment, his face changed and he frowned.

Felicity was concerned, "What's wrong?"

"Are um...we going to have to share a room?"

Both Felicity and Oliver laughed, but she was relieved when Oliver had an answer.

"No," Oliver told him, "We're going to find somewhere new to live, preferably a house with a yard, but you won't have to share a room."

"Having a sister would be really cool I think."

Oliver chuckled, "I haven't told you enough about having a little sister, have I?"

"Aunt Thea is practically your best friend." William said, rolling his eyes. "I can't wait. Besides, I can teach her how to do all kinds of things like how to throw a ball and do fractions."

She'd been trying to hold it back, but she started sniffling and then she started to full on sob.

"I'm fine." She said, seeing the look on Oliver's face, "Just…"

She gestured for the tissues.

'William, I'm really glad you're okay with this."

Felicity blew her nose into the tissues and tried to pull herself together with a deep breath.

"You're going to be a good big brother."

"Donna is going to be so excited." William said, "Remember how excited she got about that baby your cousin had? Ours is going to be so much better though."

"Speaking of that." Felicity said, feeling an abject sense of horror about her mother finding out through the grapevine. "Make sure you don't say anything just yet. We want to tell her next."

"Okay." William nodded his head, "I can keep a secret."

. . .

She was so relieved to be out of the hospital that she couldn't even be mad that Oliver had relegated her to the couch.

"You have to go back to work at some point. I'm fine." Felicity rolled her eyes, "Even the doctor said it should be a standard pregnancy from here on out."

"I'm going to the office for a couple hours later on." Oliver told her, "Roy and Thea will be here. I already have dinner covered. They-and by they, I mean Roy-just have to reheat dinner at 350 for 30 minutes."

"I don't need a babysitter." She rolled her eyes, she wouldn't be able to handle nine months of this.

"It's not babysitting." Oliver informed her, "Thea wants to plan your baby shower."

Felicity groaned and sunk as far into the couch as she could.

"Your sister is a tyrant."

She could already imagine the bash that Thea wanted to throw. She took to party planning like a fish to water.

"I'm sure Roy will keep her in line."

Felicity laughed out loud. "I think we both know that no one keeps Thea Queen in line."

It was far from the end of the world, she decided. It had been a long time since they had a win, since they had something good to celebrate and the world not crashing down around them. Finally, they had something truly good to celebrate, and she was incredibly happy for it.

Even with Oliver treating her like an invalid.

. . .

"My brother is such is good house husband."

Thea made this declaration as she finished off a generous piece of the vegetable lasagna that Oliver had left them to reheat for dinner.

Felicity laughed.

Roy had to admit that it might have been one of the best dinners he'd ever had. Good food had been lacking in their trip across the globe. However, considering the company he felt like he had to stick up for Oliver. He was pretty sure that Nyssa had tried to pass off rabbit as chicken.

"Isn't that kind of sexist?" Roy asked, finishing off his second plate of food.

Roy quickly regretted the question when he got two deeply annoyed frowns from both Thea and Felicity.

He had a feeling a lecture was coming, and was deeply relieved when William spoke up.

"Felicity, I forgot to tell dad. I need some toner to print out my paper for school tomorrow." William said, "I have to print it tonight."

"Well unfortunately Felicity still isn't cleared to drive." Thea said.

Roy realized an opportunity had finally hit to escape from the baby shower planning drama.

"I'll take you." He offered quickly, "We'll bring back some ice cream for dessert."

"Hard to say no to ice cream." Felicity mused, then sighed. "Okay."

She glanced over to William. "Run and get my purse, will you?"

"Yep." William looked as thrilled as Roy felt to escape all of the estrogen.

"Keep an eye on him." Felicity warned him, "Make sure you're back by nine."

Roy was about to agree, reminding her that it was just a quick run out of necessity but Felicity seemed to think otherwise. When William came back, she handed Roy a credit card.

He gave Thea a quick kiss and with William behind him they dashed out the door, and he closed it behind them.

"So, toner, huh?" Roy chuckled after they were in his car.

William clearly had his dad's gift for lies. Outrageous and unbeleiveable.

"It's so boring." William groaned, "I love Aunt The, but a balloon is a balloon!"

Roy snorted, he had to agree. As much as he loved his girlfriend, you could only have the same conversation about balloons so many times.

"Well we have two hours until we have to be back." Roy said, turning the key in the ignition. "What should we do?"

"Can I drive your car?" William asked hopefully.

"Ha. No." Roy told him, "Maybe when you're sixteen."

"Seemed worth a try." William mused as the car took off down the street.

"How about arcade?" Roy suggested. "There is a great place a few blocks away. I used to hang out there as a kid."

"Awesome." William said. "Sounds like a plan.

Roy handed him Felicity's credit card. "Stick that in the glovebox."

As soon as William opened the glovebox, Roy swore, and tried to stop him but it was too late. William pulled a small box, the lid knocked askew. It fell off completely as William picked it up. Inside was a diamond engagement ring. The ring he'd purchased it in Egypt for Thea.

"It's a ring." William said.

So it was. And he'd had all the best intentions. Now that they were back in Star City for more than a flyover visit, he'd had a plan. When the moment came he was going to pull Oliver aside, and he was going to ask for permission to marry Thea. He knew that it was stupid and old fashioned, but he didn't want to blindside him, and he wanted Oliver to know exactly what Thea meant to him. He wasn't a gangbanger anymore, and he wasn't a vigilante. He would, and could give her a good life. He loved her.

"Are you good at secrets?" Roy asked him resignedly.

"Are you going to marry Aunt Thea?" William asked him, still looking the ring over.

"That's the plan." Roy told him, "I was going to talk to your dad, ask him for his permission."

"How come?" William asked."What if he says no?"

Roy got a chill as William asked that question.

"Well, I've loved your Aunt Thea for a long time." Roy answered after a minute. "I don't think he's going to say no…"

"Dad is sort of overprotective."

Roy laughed, "No kidding."

"However, I've loved Thea for a really long time, and I want her to be my wife."

"I think you should work on you speech." William said, carefully putting the ring away.

'That's not the exact speech." Roy said defensively as they pulled into the parking lot at the arcade. "But can you promise not to tell? I'm going to talk to your dad this weekend, and then, hopefully, propose to Thea."

"I can do it." William nodded his head. "You'd be a pretty cool uncle though, so I hope my dad doesn't kill you."

Roy rolled his eyes, Felicity was rubbing off on this kid.

. . .

Another night passed, and Oliver found himself pouring over office paperwork unable to sleep.

Four months into Felicity's pregnancy and he had always assumed she would be the one struggling to get a good night's sleep, but for the third night in a row he found himself unable to sleep for two reasons. He'd hesitated the night before breaking up a robbery, and he was at a loss for how to solve youth crime in the Glades.

He sighed, setting the paperwork pack down and straightening his back as he heard a noise on the stairs. His eyes narrowed, he he watched carefully, only to find Roy walking down the stairs. He was relieved that if nothing else, his sleeplessness hadn't effected Felicity.

"Can't sleep either?" He asked, as Roy walked into the living room.

Roy shook his head. "No point in keeping Thea awake too. She switches it off better than me."

Oliver understood immediately. "It's not easy to sleep...easily."

"Since you're here and...I'm here." Roy finished sloppily, "Can we talk?"

"That," Oliver sighed, "Sounds like we are going to need a drink. Vodka?"

Oliver walked over to the bar. He wished he had rescued the bottle from the bunker. He felt like he was could use it. At least he had some decent russian vodka.

"Is it the stuff from the bunker?" Roy asked, a skeptical look on his face.

"No." Oliver laughed, "Would you prefer whiskey?"

Oliver grabbed the bottle of Jack, thinking about how that had been John's preference too. He missed him. Oliver shook the thought off, there was enough on his plate apart from yet another friend who no longer spoke to him.

"Yeah, that's fine." Roy nodded his head.

As Oliver poured the drinks, he noticed that Roy looked nervous. He waited to set the drink down in front of his friend before asking the question.

He had to admit he was relieved that they were back. He worried constantly about the two of them on their mission with Nyssa.

"Is everything okay with you? You seem nervous."

"Oliver," Roy paused taking a long swig of whiskey from the glass he held. "I want to ask Thea to marry me."

For a full moment he was stunned. He could have imagine Roy saying a number of things, but this was not one of them.

Roy barreled on, tugging a box out of her pocket. "I bought a ring, three months ago. I love her. I've always loved Thea. I don't think I ever have love someone more, or I ever could, and I want to marry her."

Oliver considered toying with him. It had been so long since he'd played the big brother card, and it just didn't seem fair. He hadn't seen Roy this afraid since the first time he shot him. He had liked that.

"Are you asking my permission?" Oliver feigned shock and surprise.

"I feel like I can't win no matter how I answer that question," Roy said. "Thea isn't so keen on that permission thing."

"Yeah, being married to these bullheaded women isn't an easy task." Oliver got up and gave him a hug. "Good luck, and get a helmet."

When he sat back down they were quiet for a moment.

"I'm really glad Roy. You know, I'd give you the take good care of her speech, but...you always have."

"I always will." Roy assured him, "With my life."

"So for how long do I have to lie to my wife, and son, and sister and pretend I don't know anything?"

Roy laughed, "About that, William uh-already knows."

Oliver looked at him in surprise. He couldn't believe that William hadn't told him.

"How?"

"We hit the arcade a few days ago and he found it in my glovebox." Roy shrugged, "I didn't have a good lie, and I didn't want to lie. I was just waiting for an opportunity to talk to you alone."

"Well, apparently he can keep a secret." Oliver said, "Do you have a plan?"

"Yeah, I do." Roy smiled. "She wants to go to Verdant tomorrow, and then we're going to grab lunch. Right around the corner is where we met the first time, I'm going to ask her there."

"Be careful." Oliver reminded him. "Tread carefully out there."

He hadn't forgotten that this city was dangerous for Roy. As far as the SCPD was concerned, he was dead. Being in this city could take his life from him.

"I will." Roy said, "Thank you Oliver."

. . .


	3. Chapter 3

Flawed Design

Chapter 3

. . .

"It feels like we've barely had five seconds together the last four months." Felicity said, trying desperately to adjust her sweater over her growing belly.

"Well you look beautiful," Oliver said pulling her in for a kiss. "And we're about to find out if we are having a boy or a girl, and then we are having dinner with Roy and Thea, but before that I have a surprise for you."

Felicity hoped it wasn't too eventful of a surprise. She was exhausted. It had taken her an hour alone just to find clothes fit this morning.

"Well isn't this going to be a jam packed day." Felicity said, tugging her boots over her swollen feet. "What's the surprise?"

"That's for later Mrs. Queen." Oliver's eyes twinkled playfully. "There's no breaking me."

Felicity sighed, fiddling with her sweater again.

"I'm huge." She frowned as she got an eyeful of herself in the mirror.

"No, you're beautiful." Oliver said, "You-"

"If you tell me that I'm glowing, I'll stab you with one of your own arrows." Felicity warned him.

She grabbed her purse and looked at him pointedly.

"You," Oliver said pointedly, "are perfect."

"Yeah, well," Felicity rolled her eyes, "We should probably get going."

She was huge and tired and miserable and ready for their baby to be here. She missed caffeine and wine and living her life without being tired every second of the day. She missed nice shoes more than she ever thought she would.

Considering how jam packed their house was, it took a few minutes to leave. Raisa reminded them that she was praying for the baby to be healthy, William had changed his mind and decided he would like a brother, and Thea spent a moment bickering about how any boy was blessed to have a little sister. Roy wished them the best.

"Aren't the two of you heading out?" Oliver asked Roy before they left.

"In a few minutes." Roy told him.

"Good luck." Oliver said.

Good luck with what, she wondered. Thea told her that the pair of them were heading out for ice cream and a walk on the coast. She did hope that they didn't get rained out on their date.

. . .

Felicity remained very confused by the cryptic exchange, and proceeded to badger him all the way out the door and for the length of the drive to her doctor's office.

"And _why_ did he need luck?" Felicity asked for the umpteenth time. "Are they up to something? They aren't leaving, are they?"

She really hoped not. The both of them had been lifesavers. Both she and Oliver had been overextended lately, and William was thrilled to have them there. He had especially taken to Roy like a fish to water.

"If they were, I'd be the first to know." Oliver told her.

 _Hm_.

Felicity thought that hardly answered her question. The look on his face made her feel like he was keeping something from her. She did not like that face one bit.

"That's not an answer." she told him, but decided to give up on that line of conversation as they entered the waiting room.

After she had been giving a fully clean bill of health after the accident, she had switched from Dr. Irglova at the hospital. He was so stern and serious, and it was such a longer drive. Besides, walking into the hospital turned her into a ball of nerves.

Oliver had pulled some of his mayoral strings and had gotten them into the best OB in the city.

It was hard to wait patiently for this. It seemed like she had been waiting to find out if they were having a boy or girl for years. Then again, the last four months had seemed like dozens.

Felicity cringed as they squirted the cool gel on her stomach, and grabbed for Oliver's hand. Suddenly she was nervous and anxious to get the news. She tried to remind herself that they already had a clean bill of health and that that was all that mattered.

It was hard to pretend like she hadn't been imagining a baby daughter to round out their family.

"Are you ready?" Dr. Lau asked, looking excited for them. "This is the favorite part of my job."

"Oh god, please." Felicity exclaimed, eager for her to spit it out. "What's it going to be?"

Felicity held her breath, swearing she would love it the same either way.

"Mr. and Mrs. Queen you are going to be the proud parents of a baby girl." Dr. Lau smiled at them.

Felicity couldn't help the squeal the burst forth, and Oliver kissed the top of her head.

"We're having a daughter."

"We're having a daughter." Felicity echoed after him. "Oh boy, a girl."

She hoped they didn't have her teenage attitude, or Oliver's penchant for lies. For a fleeting moment she remembered how overprotective he'd been with his sister and hoped he wasn't going to be one of those insufferable dads who pulled out a gun on the first day. No, she corrected herself, she supposed he didn't need that to intimidate someone.

"And everything looks perfectly healthy." Dr. Lau said, turning off the machine. "Any questions?"

"No," Felicity shook her head, using the towel the doctor gave her to scrub off the gel. "Thank you Dr. Lau."

"Thank you so much." Oliver reiterated, beaming as he looked back to Felicity.

She waited for the doctor to leave, and adjusted her shirt before Oliver helped her out.

"Oliver, I've been thinking about something. If the baby was a girl." Felicity bit her lip and looked up at him, "I want to name her after Laurel."

Felicity thought that he would be stunned by that revelation, but he nodded his head quickly. She hadn't planned on saying this now, or running it by him yet. But from the moment that she learned she was having a baby, it had been her only thought.

"I can't imagine a better name. A hero. A legacy." Oliver said.

"We'll have to talk to Quentin." Felicity said, "I want to run it by him before we do anything."

"Absolutely." Oliver lifted her off of the exam table and set her down on her feet.

She desperately hoped that Quentin would give them his blessing, and this request wouldn't hurt him. It seemed like the best way that she could think of to remember their friend and honor their daughter.

. . .

Felicity realized that she made a mistake telling Oliver that her feet were sore. They had to park about four blocks from the restaurant where they were meeting Thea and Roy for dinner. Oliver swiftly picked her up, despite her protests and carried her.

She was mortified.

"Oliver!" Felicity hit him over the back, "Oliver, people are watching and you're the mayor. They're going to talk; they're going to take _pictures_."

She couldn't imagine being photographed in her state. The thought of that was even worse.

"They can talk." Oliver shrugged. "I'm taking my wife to dinner."

Felicity groaned, and finally settled in to his chest. She would die before she admitted it, but she really didn't think she could take another block. Her feet weren't just sore, they were absolutely killing her.

"So what's the big surprise?" Felicity asked, "And am I going to figure out why you were being so suspicious with Roy? And also, is that the surprise?"

"You...ask too many questions." Oliver shook his head.

They walked along in silence until Oliver set her down right in front of the restaurant.

"Let's go." He kissed Felicity on the head.

As soon as they walked into the dimly lit restaurant, Felicity could see Roy and Thea a few tables from the entrance.

"Ollie, Felicity!" Thea's eyes were bright with excitement. "We have such a big surprise for you."

"Should we order drinks first?" Oliver asked, pulling out Felicity's chair and waiting for her to get situated before sitting down again.

"What's the big surprise?" Felicity asked, "I've been asking about surprises all day today so I'm dying to hear one."

Maybe they were engaged? No, she thought, the idea passing through her head as quickly as she considered it. Oliver couldn't possibly have seen that coming. She almost giggled at the thought, that would have been wonderful news.

"Roy asked me to marry him, and I said yes." Thea was lit up with glee, before turning to Oliver with a firm look. "And no threatening speeches, Ollie."

She almost fell out of her chair. It seemed unbelievable. Oliver had better behave.

"Oh, I already got those out of the way." He grinned, and took his seat. "Didn't we?"

Felicity wondered if he was oblivious to the daggers that both she and Thea were shooting in his direction. She supposed that answered her question as to whether or not he'd gotten all that overbearing big brother business out of his system.

"I asked for Oliver's blessing first." Roy said in way of explanation to them all, looking nervous for the first time. "I wanted to explain to him why I was asking Thea to marry me."

He turned to her and kissed her. "Because I love you more than anyone or anything on earth."

Felicity felt her eyes start to well up in the same moment. She realized that she couldn't keep it at bay this time, and brushed her hands over her eyes. It felt too late, she was ugly crying and she could tell by the way everyone was looking at her.

"Felicity, are you okay?" Oliver asked concernedly.

"I'm fine." She whimpered, trying to hide her face under the napkin and blot her eyes under her glasses. "That was just really beautiful, and... hormones, really I'm fine. I'm so happy for the two of you."

It took her a moment to compose herself and she realized they were waiting for their news.

"Are you ever going to tell us?" Thea asked, looking incredibly impatient. "Niece or nephew? I have to go shopping, Felicity!"

Felicity let Oliver give the big news while she composed herself. It almost seemed dangerous that they could all be so happy.

"We're going to have a baby girl." Oliver said, "A niece for the two of you."

Thea jumped out of her seat and raced between them hugging them both. Roy did the same and for a moment they were all lost in a sea of congratulations. When things finally settled down, Oliver called for water and champagne for the engaged couple.

"You two...married…." Felicity chuckled, looking over them with a fond memory. "And Oliver…"

Felicity laughed, and turned to Oliver. "I remember the first time this guy saw the two of you on the cameras at Verdant and looked ready to put an arrow through you for kissing his baby sister."

She nudged him with her elbow. "You were so angry."

"I remember the first time he put an arrow in me." Roy said with a laugh.

"I remember being really annoyed at my ridiculously overprotective big brother." Thea grumbled, narrowing her eyes at Oliver.

"Is this beat up on Oliver Queen day? Should it be made official?" Oliver rolled his eyes. "Yes, I did all of that."

For a long while, they drank and eat quietly and Felicity felt enveloped in the quiet, normal, senseless chatter. She was focused on her steak until she heard someone clear their throat-Roy-and stand up with their glass in hand.

"I'd like to make a toast. I know this isn't anything official, but you guys are the best, and only family I've ever had."

Roy cleared his throat again, "Oliver, I will always owe you for helping me to become the kind of man that is worthy-almost-of your sister. You taught me how to be a man, and a hero, and I have no doubt at all that you-both you and Felicity-will be the best mother and father that any child could ask for."

Chills ran down her spine, and Felicity swore she _would not cry_ this time, and started to gulp down some water. It appeared that this time it was Oliver's turn, but he didn't break like she did. She glanced over to him and could see the smile cross his lips.

"Before we make any more sappy toasts about how much Roy and Oliver love and admire each other," Felicity said in a teasing tone, giving Oliver a moment to collect himself. "I want to say something."

It took her a moment to stand up and gather her glass of water.

"I have never seen any two people in the world go through so much, and still find their way back to each other. We wish you all of the happiness in the world and love you both so much."

It seemed like all that was missing was a picket fence, they were all finally, after all this time getting their happily ever after's.

. . .

Oliver took a deep breath; he didn't think he'd ever been so nervous. He had admired Quentin Lance for as long as he knew him, as both a man and a father, and this conversation made him nervous. He and Felicity had both agreed to talk to Quentin alone, and make the request. They didn't want to put him on the spot.

Quentin had been surprised when Oliver asked him to come to the house to talk to them, but he had complied.

"So…" Quentin rubbed his hands together as they sat in the living room with coffee all around, save Felicity. "This had better be good news, you too."

"I hope so." Oliver said with a smile, feeling hesitant. "Quentin, there is something incredibly important we want to ask you and please feel free to tell me no."

"Don't worry, it's never stopped me before." Quentin told him with a dry laugh. "You step down as mayor on me and I may kill you though."

"No." Oliver shook his head, and smiled. "Not this time."

For some reason the question felt more difficult than he thought it would be. Was he only going to upset him by dredging up the memory of Laurel again?

"We wanted to tell you, we just found out, a couple of days ago that we're going to have a daughter." Felicity started.

She looked at him with a prompting glance, and he was relieved when Quentin spoke, buying him a moment.

"That is just...incredible news." Quentin clapped his hands together, "Let me just tell you, I am so happy for the two of you. That is one very lucky little girl."

"Quentin," Oliver said, taking a deep breath, "We would like to name her after Laurel, and we were hoping that was something that you would be okay with."

Oliver could see his eyes well up with tears, and he jerked his head away for a moment and cleared his throat.

"I'd be honored…" Quentin cleared his throat, "For your baby girl to carry on Laurel's name. It means a lot. It means a lot to me that you want to do that."

"We want her to have a legacy." Felicity said, "We want her to know how strong, and brave, and loving Laurel was. To know her like we did. To love her like we did"

"Thank you." Quentin cleared his throat again, before getting up to hug Felicity, and then Oliver.

"Laurel Queen, huh?" Quentin laughed, "I only thought I'd ever hear those names together over my dead body."

Oliver couldn't disagree, trying to get used to the sound of that in his head. All he knew was that he could not wait to meet her and make her proud.

. . .


	4. Chapter 4

Flawed Design

Chapter 4

. . .

Everything seemed too hard. Thea slammed the binders of wedding plans shut in frustration in the hours after she realized that she had been so stupid.

They couldn't have announcements in the paper, they couldn't have a big wedding with an expensive photographer in the church that her parents got married in. They couldn't have a massive engagement party with the little spinach tarts or share their celebrations with everyone.

In Star City, they—Roy—couldn't exist. It was one thing for him to hide under a hat and go to dinner or the arcade, it was another thing to try and do this and stay invisible in all the ways he had to.

She threw one of the binders across the room in frustration.

Thea started to cry as the sound reverberated in the empty room, startled only when he was interrupted by an incredibly surprised Felicity.

Quickly she tried to compose herself, wiping the tears away from her hand and knowing it was too late to write it off.

"Felicity," Thea said, trying to clear her throat. "I thought—I didn't think anyone was home."

"That makes two of us." Felicity walked into the room, and sat down next to her. "What's wrong?"

She didn't even know how to put it into words without sounding stupid and shallow. What did she really need all of this for? All she needed was Roy.

"It's so stupid. I was being stupid." Thea sniffled. "Don't tell Roy or Ollie, please."

"Oh I am well acquainted with hiding a good crying jag." Felicity rubbed her hand across her sister-in-law's back. "No judgement if you want to talk about it."

"All this stuff."

Thea gestured to the pile of wedding planning and binders she'd compiled back during the preparation for Felicity and Oliver's wedding.

"None of it is possible. It didn't…. we can't have the big wedding not here, not in Star City."

Probably not anywhere, Thea thought. Because her groom was not supposed to be alive.

She watched as the realization spread across Felicity's face.

"We can figure this out." Felicity said, but seemingly unable to vocalize a solution.

"I don't want to leave again." Thea struggled to compose herself. "I want to be an aunt to my niece and nephew, and I want to be here with you and Ollie. You're our family."

They sat in silence for a long time. Thea felt like once again, they were caught between a rock and a hard place. No matter what she chose, she would have to lose something.

"Let's go then," Felicity suggested to her, "Let's have the wedding on the other side of the world. The biggest blowout that Malta or Bali ever had."

"Felicity," Thea frowned, shaking her head. "You can't fly."

More to the point, she wasn't sure that they could get Roy a passport either.

"We will figure it out." Felicity promised her. "One of the Queen's needs to have a wedding to remember at least."

It was a nice thought, and she loved Felicity for everything that she was saying, but it just wasn't possible. Something had to give, and in her life, it was the wedding of her dreams.

"You're a good sister." Thea hugged her. "I really don't need the big wedding. I just want you and Ollie and William there-and my niece of course.'

"Well, she doesn't have much of an option." Felicity laughed, patting her belly and its seemingly gigantic curve.

. . .

The night was dark and rainy, but it hadn't eclipsed his view enough to not realize that he was being followed, and he was irate.

Oliver caught the tail two blocks out from the bunker. He took a sharp turn into an alleyway and stopped; getting off of his bike, and kicking it into position with a fury to his movements.

"Was the red hoodie a dead giveaway?" Roy lifted the visor on the helmet, but didn't apologize, and Oliver would have been surprised if he had.

It wouldn't have fixed this anyways.

Inside, he was fuming at Roy. He had warned him now, multiple times. This is not how things would be. Roy had already placed himself in the crosshairs too many times for him. He had a new life, a real life and right now he was about to marry Thea. Oliver was not going to let him throw that away by getting arrested for being stupid.

"What is wrong with you?" Oliver asked him, coming within inches of his face.

He would not have it on his conscious again if his sister had to lose Roy again.

His voice was filled with anger. "Are you trying to get made? Do you want to go back to prison?"

Roy brushed it off. "Oliver, I can handle myself. You trained me."

That was the problem, Oliver thought. He had trained half a dozen, and Roy had always been the best. He'd been his friend and partner, and now he was going to be his brother. He would not let him break Thea's heart this way.

Oliver steeled himself, gritting his teeth. He had never seen his sister as happy as she was to have Roy back in her life again. This thrill he was trying to catch again wasn't worth it.

"Do you realize what it would do to her if you got caught?" Oliver asked him, "Don't you care at all? You're going to get married."

"You have a wife and a son, and you're about to have a daughter." Roy reminded him, narrowing his eyes with a stubborn glint. "You're on your own out here. You need backup."

"You need to stay out of the way." Oliver ordered him, pointing past him. "It isn't like this anymore."

"What?" Are you going to put an arrow in my leg again?" Roy prompted him, with an equal amount of frustration.

"Don't tempt me." Oliver said in a low voice. "Go home."

"Who's going to watch your back, Oliver?"

"I can take care of myself."

He didn't know why suddenly everyone had forgotten. Once upon a time, for a long time, he had done this alone. He had done it well, and he hadn't died. The only way he could do this, the right way to do this was alone. It wasn't that he was stupid, or ignorant of the risk, but he could handle himself.

Even if he missed the days of having a partner at his side, it couldn't happen. Not now, and not like this.

"Until you can't." Roy told him. "You're not flawless, not perfect. What happens if you need help?"

He understood the silent question, the accusation. What happened when he needed help and it didn't come? Oliver had seen the same question in Felicity's eyes when he came back late and she was laying wide awake in bed. He could handle himself, and just like he promised her again and again, he did it again. He swore that he would always come home to them.

"I figure it out." Oliver slung his bow over his back, making it clear that the conversation was over.

Arguing with him was just a waste of time. He got on his bike, and turned to face Roy.

"Follow me again, and we're going to have a problem."

He sped into the street, wondering how much of this Roy had shared with his sister. Thea had no idea that he was out in the streets for the same reason that Oliver had warned him, he was risking his life and freedom, and the fresh start that life had afforded him.

Thea would be furious with him, and Oliver decided that if he needed to go that route, he would. It was in Roy's best interests to be kept away from this.

. . .

Breakfast was an unusually terse affair. Felicity couldn't quite decide what was going on, but Roy and Oliver had yet to exchange a word with each other. Even William seemed to notice after asking to be excused and take his breakfast to his room.

"I think that's a good idea." Felicity said quietly.

Oliver looked like he was about to object until she looked his way and he closed his mouth and returned to watching the food on his plate. She returned to her quiet considerations of what the problem was. There were a number of things that she suspected, but she couldn't be certain.

"Felicity makes a good point." Thea pushed her plate away, looking between Roy and Oliver. "What is going on with the two of you?"

"Nothing."

There was an uncomfortable moment of awkwardness between Roy and Oliver as they uttered the same word at once.

Felicity flinched slightly, the coldness between them right now was palatable. She was sure she had her answer. There was only one question that she could figure neither one of them would answer.

"That doesn't seem like nothing." Felicity said.

Once again, Oliver started to speak.

"Oh no." She shook her head, "I am not done. I am over six months pregnant, Oliver, and my patience is just about shot. I'm not looking for a bullshit excuse from either one of you. What is going on?"

"Roy?" Thea prompted him, "Is there anything you want to say?"

Felicity glanced at Thea and saw that her sister-in-law looked as annoyed as she felt.

"We had a disagreement." Roy said finally, a cool tone in his voice. "Isn't that right, Oliver?"

"We will resolve it." Oliver said quickly. "It has nothing to do with either of you."

Both of them returned to their plates, busying themselves with the food that they didn't seem to be eating. The quiet was broken when Thea slammed her palms down on the table.

"Oh my god!" Thea shoved her chair back from the table and looked at Roy. "You went back out there again? Didn't you? Roy, you promised me! You swore it wouldn't happen again!"

"What if someone saw you?" Felicity asked, unable to imagine what it would be like if he was arrested again. They didn't have those same cards to play again.

As much as she worried about Oliver, as much as that fear kept her awake at night…Roy was risking everything to go out there.

"It is a non-issue." Oliver said finally. "Roy and I resolved it, and he knows that he cannot go back out there again."

"He's right." Roy said after a long moment, "Thea, I'm sorry."

"You always are." Thea said darkly, before walking away without a look back.

Roy jumped up after her, and Oliver and Felicity were left at the table alone. If Oliver wasn't going to say anything, she would. Thea wasn't the only one that wasn't happy with the status quo. They were playing with fire now, all of them were, and it didn't seem like it would be long before they were burned.

"It's not safe for them here." She said finally, "He's like you, he's going to go stir crazy trapped in this apartment."

"Felicity, I can't make them leave." He told her, a pained look crossing his face. "They want to stay, both of them."

Felicity didn't say anything else, because he wasn't wrong. They weren't going to kick them out, or make them leave but she couldn't help the awful feeling that this could only lead to something horrible.

. . .

Oliver swore profusely as he caught his fingers in the mechanisms on the crib. He'd faced lesser torture at the hands of Amanda Waller. Between this, arguing with Felicity, and the blow up between Roy and Thea it didn't seem like the week could get any worse.

"Sorry." He said to William, cringing at the outburst.

"Raisa says that people swear because they can't think of anything more intelligent." William said, raising an eyebrow at his father. "But I'm not sure."

"How come?" Oliver groaned, sitting back and trying to ascertain where things had gone so wrong

He also wasn't surprised to hear Raisa would say that. He remembered when she washed his mouth out with soap after the first time he and Tommy learned to swear.

"Well, Felicity swears a lot when she's at her computer and thinks I don't hear her." William admitted. "But she's the smartest person I know."

Oliver chuckled, setting the instructions aside. "Me too."

"Dad, this seems super complicated." William said, observing all of the screws and pieces of wood scattered around the floor. "Do you know what you're doing?"

Oliver nearly laughed out loud. He barely knew what he was doing, and it wasn't just limited to building a crib.

It was remarkable, that even with a prowess in three languages that these directions did not make sense. He'd made a small amount of progress, but this had taken him hours.

"Absolutely." Oliver lied, "Can you go and get the mattress out of the living room?"

William agreed, but looked skeptical.

Oliver returned to the crib. After hours of work he had the bare bones of it sorted out, but there seemed to be a small gap where there should be none. He sighed, he was definitely not going to risk his daughter's safety and well-being on hoping that good was good enough. He decided that he was going to reach out and call the only dad he knew.

After punching in his number, Quentin picked up quickly.

"Do you know anything about assembling cribs?" Oliver asked him, "I think I am doing something horrifically wrong."

Quentin laughed, "There's a learning curve. What happened?"

"There is a gap where I screwed the sides in together." Oliver explained, "I followed the directions."

'That's your first mistake." Quentin told him, "You need another hand?"

"I would really appreciate that." Oliver sighed, incredibly grateful for the help.

"I can head over." Quentin told him, "Don't worry about it though, the first one is the worst, and I'm all about making that the safest baby girl in the world."

As Oliver ended the call, he thought about Quentin's words. Moments like this, a number of moments like this had made him wistful for the things he had missed with William. His one consolation was that if he hadn't missed those moments, he probably wouldn't have Felicity and his daughter. Once again, he swore to himself, he would never miss those moments with Laurel, he wouldn't miss anymore with William.

He was going to make every effort to be everything they needed him to be.

. . .

Thea felt torn in a million and one directions.

She supposed that was the reason that she went for a 'walk'. Unfortunately, that walk went as far as the dumpster behind her brother's building. It was amazing how old habits died hard, and old tricks paid off. She never really meant to do it but last week she found herself walking into the convenience store for a diet soda and walking out with a pack of cigarettes.

Roy would kill her if he found out. She took a long drag, being careful to hide just at the corner just in case her family peeked out the windows of the high rise. Luckily, Roy had left hours ago to take William to the arcade and she would have plenty of time for a shower and a change of clothes.

She pulled her sweater tighter around her and took a long drag. She sighed, that felt so good. Hardly the best example that she was setting for her nephew and soon to be niece. It felt good to have a moment to herself and forget about things. She was worried about Ollie, she didn't like that he was out there along, she didn't like that Roy had gone out there and put himself and danger and risked arrest, she didn't like that he was risking things every day being here, she didn't like that they had abandoned the mission with Nyssa, and she didn't like the idea that one day they were certainly going to have to leave again. She didn't like anything happening right now.

She was furious, scared, still that Roy had risked everything by going out there with Ollie. She couldn't picture her life without him again.

Thea sighed deeply, savoring the moment. They would all kill her. She remembered the first time after Ollie came home and caught her-he'd been furious. Before that, she remembered when Tommy did, and snapped it in his hand. It was hard to think of him, think of all the moments she'd missed not knowing she had him as a brother too. She was glad that she'd had him in her life at least. She remembered what crap Roy-Roy who stole her purse gave her about her filthy habit. Somehow it didn't seem quite as bad as petty theft. She leaned against the wall, the baby shower was something to look forward to at least. The invitations went out this morning, and it was going to be an incredible bash. She'd taken Roy shopping with her in Central City. They'd found a beautiful bassinet.

For a moment, she was lost in her thoughts and relief in the relaxation for the time, but it was broken rapidly with the thunk of a bag of garbage and an exclamation from William.

"Aunt Thea!" William frowned, carrying the same judgmental look that Oliver used to wear so very well.

Not quickly enough she dropped it, and put it out with the toe of her shoe.

Seconds behind him was Roy, who watched the scene with extreme displeasure. Well, she thought, how do you like it when the shoe is on the other foot? It kind of sucked when the person you loved let you down, didn't it?

"Aunt Thea, those are going to kill you." William said, "They're poison."

He turned back to Roy, "Tell her. They're going to kill her."

"It's a disgusting habit." Roy agreed with him, folding his arms across his chest and looking at her unhappily.

Thea felt a sense of déjà vu over the words, as well as embarrassment that William had caught her like this.

"William, I'm sorry." Thea told him, "I swear, you'll never see me doing that again. Ever. Let's pretend it never happened."

"That doesn't mean you'll never do it again." William looked at her angrily, "Does my dad know?"

Mini Ollie, she thought with a sigh, being very careful not to look at Roy, because she could handle only so much disappointment at once.

"Ollie does not." Thea managed, picturing the look on his face for that conversation. "We don't have to tell him, because I promise it won't happen again."

"William, can you go upstairs?" Roy asked him, "I'd really like to talk to Thea for a minute."

"If it ever happens again, I'm going to tell my dad." William warned her, "He's not going to let you kill yourself with those."

It was amazing how quickly he seemed to take on Ollie's mannerisms, she thought.

"That makes two of us." Roy told her.

He held his hands out, and she handed over the nearly empty pack to him. Roy tore it in half and threw it in the dumpster.

"What the hell is that about?" Roy asked her when William was gone, "This isn't like you."

"Oh don't be so dramatic." Thea blew off the pressing tone in his voice. "It's not vertigo."

"I'd hope not." Roy said, without a trace of humor in his voice. "Are you going to tell me what this is about?"

Thea smiled, "It's nothing."

She kissed him on the cheek, and forced an even look.

"There is just a lot going on. But I promised William, and I'm promising you." Thea said, "This is the last time."

She wasn't sure why, but Roy didn't press it and she was relieved. They'd argued enough lately and she was sick of it.

"I'm going inside to shower." she said, "Are you coming."

"Right behind you."

Roy tossed the small garbage bag that William had been holding into the dumpster, and was silent well into the hallway.

"You're going to have to make things right with him." Roy told her, "That's not the kind of thing a kid forgets."

"It's not going to happen again." Thea snapped, "I made a mistake, okay?"

"Okay." Roy shrugged his shoulders. "Mistakes happen."

She could tell from the unmistakable tone in his voice that one more slip up would lead to a much longer conversation. At one point, she was sure, he was not going to let it go and they were going to have to have a significantly longer conversation.

. . .

They had the conversation sooner than she expected.

Thea laid in bed next to him, thinking again about what had happened, and what she had done. She was still upset that he had lied to her.

"We need to talk about this." Roy started, rolling over in bed to look at Thea and breaking the silence between them. "I'm so sorry."

She didn't turn to look at him. Thea wasn't sure if he was ignorant of what could happen, or if he was risking it all the same. Did it matter to him how much the thought of losing him scared her?

"I know what I did, I know I scared you." Roy told her. "I didn't mean any of that. I was worried about him."

Thea turned and looked at him. That was just too much for her. They all did. Every second that her brother was under the hood, especially now, worry ran rampart through the house.

"Do you think you're the only one? Do you think that I don't worry? That Felicity doesn't?" Thea realized her voice was rising and tried to correct it.

At this point, everyone except for them was definitely sleeping. The last thing she wanted to do was wake them up over a fight between her and Roy.

"Roy, you just have to accept it. You've been away from it a long time; you can't let yourself be pulled back in."

"That's what Oliver said." Roy's voice carried a note of finality. "Thea, I swear to you, it was the last time. I'm not going back out there."

She didn't say anything, and he continued. A part of her found the vow impossible to believe. It had been a long time, but she knew how he felt when he was out there. Thea was sure that he had missed it, even for all of his normal talk. It wasn't something that just left you. She knew it, because she missed it too.

"Besides, I don't relish the idea of another arrow in my leg."

Roy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"Please," he asked, "Please forgive me. I would never do anything to ruin this."

"You really need to promise." Thea told him, feeling a shiver down her back as she thought about how bad it could have been. "It's too dangerous for you."

"I swear."

She settled into his chest, hoping he was telling her the truth. All she knew was that she could not handle more of this, she could not handle the what the fear of losing him did to her.

. . .

Felicity rolled her eyes as she watched her mother flirt with Quentin. She really thought she would hate it, but there were two things she knew. Quentin Lance was a good man, and he made her mother incredibly happy. She would even hazard to say that he made her happier that this baby was.

She settled back on the couch. At seven months pregnant she was both massive and exhausted. She had sent Oliver for some sparkling water minutes ago, but he had yet to come back. She was sure that he could have been stopped by many, many people. She was considering that as she saw Lyla, just Lyla walk inside. For her, she actually made her way up from the couch and hugged her.

"I'm really happy to see you."

"I tried to convince Jonny to come." Lyla said in a low voice, seeming reluctant to bring up the elephant in the room. "He thought he would ruin it for you and Oliver."

She missed him. It was hard to imagine that he and Oliver would never reconcile. After everything that the three of them had been through, it just didn't seem like it should be like this.

Lyla handed her two letters. "One is for you and Oliver. He's really happy for both of you. We both are. In spite of everything that happened between Oliver and John, we both know that the two of you will be great parents."

Felicity hugged her again, and tucked the letters into the pile of presents.

"I'm sorry John didn't come."

"They'll make things right again one day." Lyla assured her. "They are both remarkably stubborn men, but they love each other like brothers."

She really hoped that Lyla was right. Oliver wouldn't talk about it, but she knew that he missed John.

"I can only help that it's resolved soon." Felicity said with a sigh, "I miss John. Have you met William?"

"No," Lyla shook her head as she walked along with Felicity. "John told me he looks just like Oliver."

"Yes and no."

Felicity waved William over from where he was surrounded by her overzealous mother and cousins.

He looked relieved to have an excuse to escape from the crowd.

"You're a lifesaver." William told his step-mother, "They were pinching my cheeks."

"William, this is our friend Lyla. She's John's wife."

"It's nice to meet you." William said politely. "I miss John. Is he here?"

William looked past them curiously.

"I'm sorry. He's home with our son." Lyla said, "It's a pleasure to meet you though. John told me that you're a genius, William."

William shrugged, looking embarrassed.

"I get good grades."

Felicity thought that he was selling himself short. William was an excellent student and he thrived in school. She was especially excited that he had been accepted into NASA space camp. There really was a sort of abject feeling of pride in being able to offer your children the things you didn't have yourself.

Lyla handed him a square box. "This gift is for you."

William looked excited. "Thank you."

Felicity pulled her toward the couch.

"Thanks for that. I was worried that he would feel like he was being forgotten with all the baby stuff."

"It's just a video game." Lyla asked, "Is it hard? Being a stepmother? I can't imagine."

Lyla took a seat on the couch next to her.

"I love him." Felicity said, "Just as much as her. He'd been through so much, he's so strong. I almost forget what life was like without William."

She brushed her hand over her stomach, and glanced past Lyla, where she watched Oliver walking over their way. It already didn't seem like things could ever be complete in their lives without her and William.

"Lyla," Oliver greeted her with a hug. "I'm glad you came."

"Well, I told Felicity and Johnny too…" She sighed, "I'm not making his apologies for him. He sent letters for you both, and he's happy for you. I hope that the two of you will be able to fix whatever happened, Oliver."

Lyla took a deep breath, "I however, am here to celebrate you two, and baby Queen."

"Speaking of baby Queen." Oliver turned to Felicity with a smile. "I think it's time."

"Oh boy." Felicity accepted his assistance getting up from the couch. "Let's get it over with."

Even among friends, she had to admit public speaking was never her forte. Oliver was Oliver, and he got everyone's attention easily. She allowed him to take the lead.

"First off, we want to thank all of you so much for coming and celebrating with us." Oliver said, "This is one of the happiest moments of our lives, though we're sure there will be many more to come."

Oliver cleared his throat quietly, and she watched all their guests. No one could say that Oliver couldn't command an audience.

"We hesitated as to when we wanted to tell everyone, but thanks to a good friend we recently were able to determine who our baby girl would be." Oliver said, "More than anything, we would like to thank them for that."

When Oliver paused, Felicity found her words.

"We have one very good friend that can't be here today because we lost her far too soon." Felicity said. "Laurel Lance was one of our very best friends, and even though she can't be here in person, she'll always be with us, with baby Laurel."

"Thank you," Oliver said, after the applause for their friends died down. "For giving us a chance to share in their part of our future with you, to share Laurel with you, and to share in our happiness. For those of you that knew Laurel Lance, the original Laurel...this is exactly the kind of moment that she lived for. Laurel always celebrated life in its fullest."


	5. Chapter 5

Flawed Design

Chapter 5

. . .

Roy thought about Thea.

Most of all, he thought about how she would likely kill him if she ever found out how he was spending the afternoon when he was supposed to be going to get fitted for a tuxedo. He felt guilty for breaking his promise to her, but after he overheard Oliver's call with Quentin, he decided he would feel worse if the tuxedo ended up being worn to his future brother-in-law's funeral.

Oliver had planned a meeting with Alderman Rufus Scott about youth crime in the Glades. They were going to sit down for a discussion to set up provisions toward keeping kids off of the streets and out of prison, and getting them back into school.

Roy thought it was a great idea that Oliver had, there was really only one problem with it. Rufus Scott and his brothers were the ones who made sure that kids like him weren't in school. Scott had once stopped him on his way home from school and told him to choose between taking a gun or losing his life because his father owed them a gambling debt before he'd been locked up.

It didn't seem likely that the man had made this big of a change during the short time he'd been gone from Star City. As a matter of fact, it felt like proof that Oliver was once again wrong and needed a man that knew these areas of town. He didn't know how Rufus had been elected, but it certainly wasn't kindness and goodwill toward his fellow man.

So, he followed the car into the Glades, using the motorcycle that he had liberated from the bunker, and keeping a safe enough distance that this time, Oliver couldn't make him.

As he sped through the streets, he thought again of Thea. He had let her down so many times, and he never wanted to break his promise, never wanted to lie to her but this meeting left him with a obscenely bad feeling. He had considered trying to talk to Oliver, trying to warn him out of this meeting, but when had he ever listened to sense?

This seemed to be the only way to assuage the feeling. He would keep his distance, he would oversee what happened and if it went as badly as he suspected he would intervene and finally be able to repay Oliver for all that he had done for him. He would just have to hope that his reasoning would be good enough, that the results of what happened would be enough for Thea to forgive him.

Felicity bit down on a string of swear words after ending the phone call with Star Preparatory School, and grabbed her bag and keys.

"Felicity," Thea called after her, "I need your help with the flowers! Where are you going? "

She sighed deeply, turning back to look at her sister-in-law and resting her hand on her stomach as the baby kicked. Maybe Laurel was as frustrated as she was.

"I have to go." She said, "William was in a fight at school."

"William?" Thea looked as stunned and surprised as she had felt. "Are you sure? Is he okay?"

"They said he is fine." Felicity explained, "I'll be back as soon as I can. Just...it'll be fine. If you hear from Oliver tell him to call me."

She rushed out the door in a flurry.

What was their version of fine, she wondered? She couldn't even comprehend the idea. William had never gotten in fights, he had loads of friends, and he was a model student. Now they were talking about a suspension and possible expulsion. She just didn't understand how this had happened.

As she rushed to the car she tried Oliver's cell, and when he didn't pick up she tried again. She listened to it ring, and tried desperately to figure it out. Everything had been so chaotic the last month, it felt like things were unraveling. Thea and Roy had nearly fallen apart after Roy's desire to get back in the field with Oliver, and she was constantly worried about him out there alone. She knew better than to ever entertain the idea that he would leave it all behind him, but she would be lying if she said that now, with their baby on the way that she wished it was a possibility.

Felicity pushed the thought out of her mind, swearing and disconnecting the call when Oliver didn't pick up. She knew that he had a meeting with the alderman today, he must not have taken his phone with him. She considered calling Quentin, but if Oliver was in the meeting with the alderman there wasn't anything he could do, apart from going across town and interrupting the meeting.

As she drove toward the school, she tried to clear her mind of all her worries. Right now, the priority had to be William and making sure that for whatever stupid reason they did not kick him out of the remarkably expensive school that kept him in the gifted and talented classes that would soon get him into a great college and future career. She couldn't help but to feel like he was set up, not in her wildest dreams could she picture him hitting someone without provocation.

Felicity parked in front of the school. She was very pregnant, tired, and eager to lay eyes on her stepson. Seeing with her own eyes was going to make her feel significantly better than she did right now.

"Felicity Queen." She said before the receptionist could ask her who she was. "I'm here for my son, William. Where is he?"

"If you take a seat," The receptionist said, after looking up from her computer, "They'll be ready for you in a moment and you'll meet with Headmaster Ramirez. "

"I really hate that you're going to make me repeat myself. I am seven months pregnant, I am tired, and angry." Felicity said, her voice rising, "My name is Felicity Queen, and my husband is Mayor Queen- _I want to see my son_."

She gritted her teeth, quickly contemplating the idea of homeschooling.

"I'll see what I can do." The receptionist said, giving her a cold look, her words filled with utter distaste.

Felicity didn't care. She had a responsibility. When she married Oliver she took on the mantle of trying to be the best mother to William that she could be, and it didn't matter who she offended, she wanted to see it he was okay.

"He's back here." The older, heavyset woman said after a long moment. "Headmaster Ramirez is ready for you as well."

Felicity braced herself for whatever unpleasantness was coming. Sometimes told her that with the mood she was in he was hardly going to be ready for her.

What she didn't prepare herself for was how irrationally she would be when she saw the bruise on his face, and the swollen black eye.

"William!" Felicity pulled him close, looking him over intently. "Are you okay?"

William tried to duck away from her, avoiding looking her in the eye.

"I'm fine."

"He'd been cleared by the nurse." Principal Ramirez informed her.

"Well that's not good enough for me." Felicity turned to face him. "Felicity Queen. What the hell happened here? I thought this school was supposed to be safe? I thought students would be protected from this here!"

"Mrs. Queen, please," he said, looking concerned at having the very agitated, highly pregnant mayor's wife in a state in his office. "You're clearly upset, take a seat."

"I'll stand." Felicity said firmly, "What happened here?"

The principal looked past him. "Would you like to explain William?"

William was silent at his prompting. Felicity turned to look at him, "William?"

"I hit Andrew Daniels." William said finally, avoiding her gaze.

Felicity stifled the groan in her throat. God, she hoped he really had a good reason. She was sure he had a good reason. William would never hit someone if it wasn't justified.

"Andrew," The headmaster said, directing a very serious look at Felicity. "Andrew, had to go to the hospital with a concussion and a broken nose. I'm sure you can imagine the severity of that."

Felicity pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to think. She realized Oliver had rubbed off on her far too much.

"I'm sure he had a reason." She said finally.

"A _reason_? Mrs. Queen." He said, "For putting a fellow student in the hospital? He won't even justify why he hit him."

In another world, she thought that she would try to pry a reason why. However, she had played that game with Oliver for far too long to try it now with William. That could wait.

"What are we dealing with here right now?" Felicity asked, looking across the desk at him. "You want to expel the Mayor's son? He has quite a bit of clout in this city, Mr. Ramirez."

"Are you making a threat, Mrs. Queen?"

"Making an accusation of the mayor's pregnant wife is not a good choice." Felicity said, leaning across his desk and trying to muster all the force she had.

"Suspension." Ramirez said in a low tone. "One week."

Felicity turned to leave with William.

"This will be your one and only warning William."

Ramirez called after them as they walked away.

"You have _so_ much to explain." Felicity said as they walked out to her car, "And I am hoping to god, you can give me a reason for all of this. An absolute gangbuster reason."

"I can't." William shrugged as he slid into the passenger seat. "I wanted to hit him."

Queen men. Felicity bit down hard on her tongue. She didn't remember the last time she was so incredibly frustrated and annoyed with the lot of them. It was a good thing this one was a girl; she couldn't handle another Queen man in her life.

"We are going to have a long, _long_ conversation about this when we get home." Felicity warned him.

. . .

At a loss, she sent William to his room, and called Oliver again.

This time, he answered his phone.

"Is everything okay?" Oliver asked, "I was just about to call you. I'm on my way to the meeting with the alderman."

Felicity braced herself for any unpleasantness, but realized it was probably unnecessary. The last couple of months, all of her pregnancy, honestly, he'd been treating her with kid gloves.

"William got into a fight at school, and he has a black eye. He's okay."

"What happened?" Oliver asked her.

"I'm still working on that part." Felicity said slowly, "But I cleared things up with the principal and made it very clear that they couldn't expel William Queen."

When she heard the disgruntled groan in Oliver's voice, she knew he didn't agree with her actions.

"You can't dole out our political capital to get him out of trouble." Oliver cautioned her.

"Well I did, and it worked."

She wasn't especially sorry that she did it either. The entire Daniels family was an absolute nightmare, and she was sure it rubbed off on their son.

"That's what my mother always thought when she did it for me." Oliver said carefully. "Is that a precedent that we want to set?"

Felicity did not appreciate the comparison between what she did and Moira Queen. All she did was make sure that he had a school to return to.

'Oliver, I did what was best for him."

"That's what she always said too." Oliver said, making it clear that he disagreed with her idea of 'best'. "I'll talk to him when I get home."

 _And you,_ Felicity finished his sentence silently. She was sure they would be having quite the conversation at some point.

After she finished talking to Oliver, she took the short walk up to William's room and found him sitting on his bed with a comic book and looking unhappy.

"Turns out we're both in trouble," Felicity said as a way of greeting, lingering in his doorway. "Your dad wasn't so keen on me threatening your principal."

"He's a jerk." William said blithely. "Headmaster Ramirez, I mean. Not dad. He doesn't even know what he stands for. He doesn't know what's going on."

"Has he failed your school?" Felicity laughed at her joke, realizing that William obviously, and for the best did not get it. "Forget it, dumb joke."

She sighed, looking him over. An ice pack had not improved the black eye.

"Can I come in?"

William nodded his head, and scooted over on the bed to give her some room. She took advantage of that and sat down on the bed next to him.

"Your dad isn't wrong…. per se." Felicity bit the inside of her mouth as she thought. "I set the wrong example back there for you, you shouldn't ever use your power, whatever it may be to try and change circumstances for yourself."

His comparison between what she did and Moira's actions when he was a kid shook her to her core.

She glanced over at him, watching him fiddle with the comic he'd been reading.

"I was wrong." Felicity said finally, glad to get it out now instead of in front of Oliver.

Talk about a terrible precedent to set, she thought.

"He deserved it." William said after a long moment. "Andrew is a jerk. He never leaves me, or anyone alone."

"What did he do?" Felicity asked, relieved that he was going to open up to her and explain.

"It was stupid, but I lost my temper." William said, looking up at her. "He just made me so angry."

"Well, like father like son." Felicity sighed, "It's a hard position to be in. And unfortunately you might have gotten that temper from your father."

She pulled him close and gave him a hug as best she could over her massive stomach.

"He said something about you, about our family." William said finally, "It made me so angry, and then I don't know, I just hit him."

Felicity was torn between a strange sense of pride, and concern for William.

'So what did that jerk say?"

"He called you a fat gold digger," William told her, "And he said that once you and my dad had your own baby you wouldn't want me anymore."

'Oh no no no." Felicity shook her head firmly, and held him close. "Firstly, your dad hadn't been rich for a very long time, I'm the one with money in the bank. Secondly…"

Felicity sat back and looked at him closely.

"William, I need you to listen to this very carefully. I know that I'm not your mother, but you will always be my son, and Laurel's big brother. Your dad and I will always, always love you just as much as we love her."

"He made me so _angry_." William looked at her dejectedly, "Dad is probably really mad, isn't he?"

Felicity ignored that for a moment, "Thirdly, and this is very important. I am not fat, I am pregnant and there is a difference."

'I told you he deserved it." William said.

"There is only one problem with that." Felicity told him, "William, you learned how to throw a punch and fight from three former vigilantes."

A guilty look colored his face.

"It was an unfair edge, and you didn't control your emotions." Felicity said, "Your dad is real big on this thing called restraint. And he's not wrong. Just because you can hurt someone, doesn't mean you should."

"Unless they hurt my sister." William told her.

Felicity was confused. "What?"

"Dad said, when it comes to your sister all bets are off." William explained, "I do whatever it takes to look after her."

Felicity rolled her eyes, that sounded like Oliver.

"You need a talk with your Aunt Thea, she can tell you more about being a big brother."

Felicity got up and sighed, looking around the room. "So, there have to be consequences, and your dad and I are going to discuss them-so for now, electronics are off limits."

William looked unsurprised.

"Okay."

She was relieved that he accepted the consequences for now, and she was eager to discuss this when Oliver got home. This was hardly what she thought it was. While she didn't want to encourage what William had done, she could hardly give him a hard time for sticking up for her, or feeling bad about what that boy had said to him.

Frankly, now she was sure he deserved what he got.

. . .

It was like riding a bike.

Well, Roy corrected himself, only if you fell off the bike a few times and cut your hand open, because that was what happened to him. Trying to keep close to Oliver's car, and dodge traffic had led to a nasty gash on his hand.

In the time between his wipe out, getting out of all the oncoming watchers, and getting back on his bike he had lost the car. That loss had made him lose hours, and by the time he caught back up with Oliver night had fallen.

It took a few arrows before he found out where the so called meeting had been moved to. Oliver's driver was dead from a single gunshot to his head. Roy had tracked down a few members of the fourth street gang, and pretty soon they sang.

They told him that he'd been taken to a warehouse on Main, and that the Alderman was going to solve their leadership problem. He left them tied up in the alley and took off.

Through the haze of the warehouse, he could see Oliver strung up in thick black ropes, looking like a lifeless oversized doll. Four armed men, strapped heavily with guns and ammunition guarded him—more members of the fourth street gang, Roy noted. They thought that they had abducted the mayor, they thought that they had leverage over the city…but they'd made one mistake.

This time the hoodie was gray, not red. But his hands still curved around the bow like they had never forgotten how they fit together.

He knew Scott couldn't change. He'd been a blood thirsty gangster then, and he was holding the Glades in his grip just the same as he had years ago.

In the time it took him to catch up, they had done a lot of damage. He'd never forgive himself if Oliver died. Roy was furious that he hadn't gotten there sooner, that he had slipped up.

He strung his bow and shot, taking out the first one. After that he was on the move, swinging down through the rafters and taking out a second. By then they had started shooting and he wove quickly, using the bow to wrest the gun from one and stabbing another with an arrow.

With the last unarmed one, he struck him in the face with the bow once, twice and he was unconscious.

"Oliver!" Roy yelled his name, hoping to see him lift his head as he sawed through the cords that bound him with a knife. "Oliver! Wake _up_. Get up, Oliver!"

Roy had a sinking feeling in his chest when he didn't so much as twitch.

He managed to lower Oliver as gently to the ground as he could and saw that he was bleeding profusely from his stomach. Roy ripped the shirt open, praying that it wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would be. There were three prominent wounds in his stomach…they'd practically gutted him.

The truth hit him in the face like a bag of bricks. They didn't have time for the hospital.

"Oliver, I'm sorry." Roy swallowed, and made the decision in a minute.

He always thought that he was going to save it for Thea. But Oliver's kid was not going to grow up without a father, he was not going to look Felicity, Thea, and William in the eye and say there was nothing he could go.

Roy had done something in Nanda Parbat that Thea would never forgive him for. He knew it then, and he knew it now. It had been his job to watch the remnants of the Lazarus Pit drain away, but he couldn't. He couldn't shake the feeling of needing a second chance for her. They were on a dangerous mission, and he couldn't handle the thought of ever losing her again.

He ripped the vial that he'd collected from his pocket, relieved that he had kept it with him.

"I really hope you forgive me."

He kept his head on a swivel, watching carefully for anyone who heard the commotion, but they seemed to be in the clear.

Quickly he uncorked the bottle, splashing it on the wounds and waited. And waited. For a moment, he thought it didn't work, he was terrified that it didn't work. Maybe he did it wrong, maybe it took more than he had.

With a start, Oliver jumped from the floor like he'd taken a shot of adrenaline right to his heart.

"Roy!" Oliver seemed to be unsure of where he was, but normal.

Roy breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank god."

"What happened?" Oliver's voice was low, and he was looking around his surrounding with confusion.

"I'll explain," Roy said, "I swear I'll explain but we have to get out of here."

It seemed like Oliver would push it for a moment, but thought better of it after looking at the bloodstained shirt on the floor.

"Go." Oliver said, grabbing the shirt and following him.

It only took moments for them to escape out the back doors, coming across one guard on the way. Roy took care of it quickly with the bow.

They had made it five blocks away from the warehouse on Oliver's motorcycle, which Roy had liberated, when Oliver stopped.

"Roy, what happened?"

"I followed you." Roy explained honestly, "Oliver, I had a bad feeling. I knew you had to do it, had to go, but I had a bad feeling so…I took the bike, and the bow, and followed."

"You saved my life." Oliver said, a tone of questioning and gratefulness in his voice. "Roy, how?"

"I did something." Roy admitted, feeling a shiver of fear for the second time tonight. "I was trying to tell you before, before everything got so crazy. Something I shouldn't have done. I meant to tell you a long time ago."

Oliver waited for the explanation.

"In Nanda Parbat. Thea and Nyssa left me to oversee the final draining of the Lazarus pit." Roy swallowed, "What we were doing, it was so dangerous…I just wanted an insurance plan. I wanted to make sure Thea would be okay, even if she never forgave me."

"It was that bad." Oliver wasn't questioning it.

He was covered in dried blood.

"Oliver, I didn't know what else to do. You were dying." Roy swallowed over the fear that had threatened to overtake him. "They split you open. You were bleeding to death."

There was a long, uncomfortable moment of silence between them, and Roy guessed what he was going to ask before he did.

"I need you to do one last thing for me." Oliver told him.

"Anything."

Even though he felt it coming, he was still stunned when Oliver said it.

"I need you to keep this between us. Felicity and Thea don't have to know what happened."

Roy closed his eyes and sighed, "Okay."

"Everything else…fine. They have to know. I don't want them to live with some sort of fear that I'm going to change. They're going to be upset enough…both of them."

Roy told himself that everything would be fine. It wouldn't be like Thea, he'd used barely any of it on Oliver, it was just a small vial. All it had done was heal him. All it did was make him whole again.

Roy hoped to God he was right, and that Thea could forgive him for breaking his promise.

. . .


	6. Chapter 6

Flawed Design

Chapter 6

. . .

Felicity was worried. Oliver should have been home hours ago. She found herself pacing the floor anxiously. She desperately missed the days of having him tagged and knowing exactly where he was, and how he was. He had promised her, promised he would always come home.

She'd phoned Quentin, but hadn't ever been able to get ahold of him. Her second call to Oliver's chief of staff just told her that he had an afternoon meeting, that might continue through dinner.

No matter what they said, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He had said they were having dinner together tonight. He would have told her if the plan had changed.

"Where is dad?" William walked out of his room, a worried look on his face as he watched her. "He's late."

"I'm sure he just got caught up at the office." Felicity told him, hoping it wasn't a lie. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Then why are you pacing the floor?" William asked her.

"The baby makes me antsy." Felicity said, saying the first thing that came to mind.

As soon as Thea walked into the room, a concerned look on her face, Felicity got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"William, give us a minute." Felicity asked him, nudging him back toward his room.

"Roy isn't here." Thea said, a hollow look in her eyes. "I've been calling him for two hours. I think something is wrong, I think…"

Thea didn't vocalize what she thought, and Felicity couldn't either. A part of her, for all the danger that she knew it placed Oliver in, hoped that Roy had followed him again.

"He was supposed to go for a tux fitting this afternoon. I called and he never showed up."

'They'll be fine." She said. "They have to be."

She said a small prayer, hoping above all hope that she was right. That they were both okay, and that she was just panicking without cause.

Moments later, they got their answer.

Roy and Oliver walked in the door, both looking a little ragged. Oliver was covered in dried blood, and bruised, but a quick look told her that it wasn't his. He was okay. Felicity was filled with an overwhelming amount of relief as she rushed toward him. He still looked bruised and battered…and was missing not only a shirt but his shoes as well.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." He stressed the words, holding her close to him. "My meeting went poorly."

"That's not funny!" As angry as she was, she couldn't stop the tears of relief from pouring down her face. "I was so scared something happened."

"I'm fine." He said softly, brushing his hand over her hair. "Everything is going to be okay."

He looked past her at Thea.

"Don't be too mad at him." Oliver told her, "Roy saved my life. Things were about to get ugly."

Felicity couldn't focus on them. She was just so incredibly happy to see him here, and in one piece.

"We need to clean you up." She tried to steel herself against the tears that wanted to fall. "William was worried; he shouldn't see you like this."

It was too late for that. William had obviously heard the commotion and come running.

"Dad!"

"I'm fine." Oliver consoled him, holding William tight. "It was just a close call, but I'm fine."

When she finally brought herself to pull away from Oliver, she noticed that Thea and Roy were standing together in silence. She watched them and felt a horrible chill in the air. They needed some time alone, she realized.

"We need to get you cleaned up." Felicity said again, swallowing over the lump that grew in her throat.

"We should go upstairs." Oliver said, seemingly agreeing with her after giving a meaningful look to both her and William.

For a small moment, they lingered and Felicity realized she couldn't find the words to thank Roy sufficiently.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Ollie." Thea said finally.

She looked ready to turn on Roy for his lie until they were interrupted by William.

He rushed at Roy, wrapping his arms around him and hugging him.

"Thank you for saving my dad's life."

It was a moment before he let go, and Felicity almost cried again. She didn't have the words for it, but William did.

"Thank you." She echoed, feeling like it was hardly sufficient.

Roy mumbled something, about it being nothing. Something he'd long since owed Oliver, but Felicity couldn't focus on it. All she wanted was to have her husband in bed with her and thank anyone who would listen that he had come back to her.

. . .

He felt so guilty.

Oliver watched her sleep, but didn't see any alternative other than the way things had went. It would have scared her, she would have spent every day waiting and watching, trying to see if the bloodlust would get to him like it had Thea and Sara. He had a handle on anything that would come his way.

He could take it; he could deal with it. She never had to know.

She would never forgive him if she knew he lied, but what else could he do? She was carrying their baby, and she was tired, scared, and overwhelmed. He knew the stress that his nights took on her after he decided to make it a solo mission again.

The worry would eat her alive.

He had to do what was best for her and their daughter.

And Roy.

After everything he had thrown in Roy's face, Roy had saved his life. He knew, realized, that if it wasn't for Roy's interference, he wouldn't be here with his family. He owed him everything, and if he ever really vocalized how far it went, he realized that Thea might not ever forgive him again. Even though Roy had betrayed her, he understood why he did it. In Roy's position, he even considered that he would have done the same.

He laid quietly in bed, trying not to disrupt her when there was a quiet knock and the door was pushed open. William walked in and Oliver placed his finger to his lips to remind his son to be silent.

"Felicity's sleeping." He said quietly once he'd slipped away from her and stepped into the hallway. "Is everything okay?"

"I couldn't sleep." William admitted, still looking shaken by the night's events. "Felicity and I usually have hot chocolate. I thought she might still be awake."

"She had a really hard time getting to sleep." Oliver told him in an apologetic tone.

It seemed like this night William needed Felicity more than him. He wondered how many nights they did this, how often they sat up over a hot mug and worried together about him.

"I thought you were only in danger when you were the Green Arrow." William told him as they walked to the kitchen. "But you said you almost died tonight, dad."

"That's a little of an over exaggeration." Oliver said, brushing off the thought that he had said it himself. "Roy had my back."

William wasn't supposed to hear that part. He had hoped that William didn't hear it.

"What if it happens again?" William asked, "And he's not there?"

"I made a mistake." Oliver admitted, walking William into the kitchen for the hot cocoa he was looking for. "I slipped up, and someone else got the upper hand, but it won't happen again."

A part of him knew he couldn't really make that promise. There was no guarantee he would always have the upper hand, and tonight he had been remarkably lucky.

. . .

Thea wouldn't talk to him. She couldn't.

For hours now, Roy had been talking, but it went past her in a blur. She was furious and grateful in one fell sweep. He had sworn, he had laid in bed with her and he had promised to her that it would never happen again, that he wouldn't risk everything by going back there.

After she had helped him clean and wrap his bleeding hand, she couldn't find the words.

And yet, he had saved Ollie's life. She knew that if the tables had been turned, Oliver would have been out there for Roy. She knew that he had brought her brother back to be with them. She knew that his family needed him—she needed him.

But had Roy really forgotten that she needed _him_ too? She needed him to be honest with her, she needed him to not lie right to her face, and yet he had. Again. Just like everyone else.

"Thea, talk to me please." Roy begged her, his face colored in desperation.

"I should go." She said finally, with a nod of her head. "Roy, I don't—I don't know how to do this."

Roy's face looked like she had punched him in the gut. It hurt her too, it killed her to see the look of pain on his face.

"Talk to me." He pled with her, "Thea, just give me a chance. I'm begging you. Let me explain."

"Explain what? That it is always easier to lie to me than to tell me the truth?"

Why was it just so damn hard for him to be honest with her? All she'd ever wanted was to be together with him again, and the last few months had been an absolute mess.

"That I still owe him my life!" Roy's voice rose, and lowered when he got her attention. "Thea, I owe Oliver everything. He's my friend, and I knew that he was going into something bad. I knew something was going to happen. I did the only thing I could think of."

"But you couldn't tell me?" Thea asked him.

It seemed like everyone in her life constantly struggled to tell her the truth.

Roy sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want you to be scared. It was the last time, Thea. It is the last time." He sunk down on the bed. "I didn't know another way."

"How about the truth?" Thea asked.

She stepped away from the door and watched him.

Roy looked defeated, and she was without the energy to keep having this argument.

"I love you." Roy said, "Thea, I love you so much. Please, please don't leave. Give me another chance."

"I love you." Thea said, "But Roy, that is why I can't do this again. You are literally breaking my heart. I can't have—I can't keep this up. I can't live in fear of something happening to you, I'm not Felicity."

She wasn't that strong, and she wasn't that brave. Thea decided in that moment she could never do this again. It hurt too much to love him and worry that he might never come back to her.

"Never again." Roy swore to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her close to him. "I swear to you; I'm done with this."

For a moment, she stayed in his embrace. But it wasn't comforting, it didn't feel as perfect as it had just hours before. It fell flat.

"I'm tired." She said finally, unable to come up with anything else to say. "Let's just go to sleep."

She was tired, she was as physically and mentally tired as she had ever been. For now, all she wanted to do was get under the covers with him and forget tonight altogether.

. . .

The next morning, no one went anywhere. William was still suspended from school, and Oliver and Felicity laid in bed until late in the morning. She only stirred in bed when she smelled the unmistakable smell of chocolate chip waffles. Then she realized that she was absolutely ravenous.

For a moment, she was confused by the smell. Oliver was still in bed with her. She nudged him and waited for him to open his eyes.

"I smell food."

"Waffles?" Oliver said, "It smells like waffles, but you're here with me so at least the building isn't going to burn down."

Felicity feign offense. "For the record, Thea was the one who started the toaster fire."

Oliver closed his eyes and swore under his breath. "Not again." He mumbled.

He quickly jumped out of bed, pulling on pants and a shirt and Felicity watched the haste in which he moved with.

"Waffles are her sad food." Oliver said, looking guilty and frustrated. "When her horse died, Raisa made her waffles for a week."

Felicity realized that she had nearly forgotten. When they had left Roy and Thea last night she had looked so hurt and angry. She could only hope that they had fixed things between themselves last night.

She tried to follow Oliver as fast as she could, and was grateful for his help pulling her out of bed. Moving around had gotten remarkably more difficult. It felt like her stomach was the size of a beach ball.

Oliver hurried down the stairs, and she followed at a much slower pace. Everything was so sore. She swore that she would never complain about anything ever again as long as things were okay between Thea and Roy. She knew how hurt Thea was by Roy's lie, but she didn't know how to reconcile that with the gift that Roy had given her. She'd been able to wake up again with her husband at her side.

Thea was at the table, and Roy was in the kitchen making waffles.

Felicity let out a sigh of relief to see that he was still here. She was expecting a joke about sad waffles, but Oliver surprised her.

"I thought you were burning the place down." He said easily, resting his hands on Thea's shoulders.

Thea glared up at him. "It was one small fire, Ollie."

She gestured toward Roy, "He's making breakfast for everyone."

"I'm helping." William poked his head out. "They're chocolate chip."

Felicity considered offering to help, considering that Roy was still hurt, but thought better of mentioning anything to do with last night. Instead, she sat down at the table and poured a glass of orange juice, listening to the easy banter of the boys in the kitchen as they cooked.

It was good, she thought. They were good, and she didn't think they could ask for any more right now.

. . .

On William's remittance to school, Oliver went with him. Felicity had wanted to come with them, but the more he reflected on it, it just didn't seem like a good idea. It still struck him just how much her actions had reminded him of his mother. The last thing he wanted was for William to get the idea that their position made him entitled to break the rules. It had not worked out for him and Tommy, and he didn't ever want William to end up like them.

"Just because you can win a fight, doesn't mean that you should undertake one." Oliver started, "You know that you were wrong, don't you?"

"We already talked about this a thousand times." William sighed, slumping down in the seat. "I won't do it again."

"I taught you to throw a punch so that you would be able to defend yourself, not so you could hurt others." Oliver reminded him, wondering if he had made the wrong choice. "You needed to show restraint in that moment, William, no matter how angry you were."

It was extraordinary how much of a hypocrite that he managed to feel like in this moment. Restraint had not always been his strong suit.

"You have an unfair advantage." Oliver said finally, "Do you understand?"

"I'm not going to hit anyone." William said, "I get it dad."

"That's all I need to hear." Oliver told him, opening the door and ushering William into the parking lot. "I trust you."

Oliver walked into the school with him, sending him off to class before heading into the headmaster's office.

"Hello," He greeted the receptionist with a smile. "Oliver Queen. I'm here to meet with Headmaster Ramirez."

"Oh Mr. Queen," She smiled at him, "Of course I know who you are. Go right in. He's expecting you."

"Thank you."

The walk into the headmaster's office felt just as foreboding as it had when he had been a student himself. He really hoped that he could resolve not only the consequences of the fight between William, but the unfortunate impression that Felicity had left after threatening to use their political capital to keep William in school.

"Mr. Mayor."

He was greeted with a smile and a handshake by the headmaster. "Please take a seat."

Oliver complied with his request, hoping that they could resolve this in minimal time. He still needed to pick up the messy pieces of the events that transpired after the incident in the Glades, and wanted to set aside some time to try and get his sister alone and talk to her.

"William, as you well know, is one of our best students." Ramirez began, "All of his teachers wrote recommendations to the board against his expulsion, he carries a one hundred average, and before this incident there weren't any other behavior reports, however…"

The headmaster hesitated, "However, we have a zero tolerance policy for violence in this school. I'm sure you're aware of the firm stance we take on bullying in this school and another incident like this wouldn't be able to be resolved like this…no matter how much clout your family name carries in certain circles."

He knew it was coming, but still he felt a certain reflexive twitch of anger.

"We are not looking for special treatment." Oliver said coolly, "However, I have some concerns as well. I spoke to both my son and wife, and while William should not have responded with his fists—we are very bothered about what Andrew Daniels said to him."

"Regardless of what the boys said to one another, We don't approve of retaliating with violence."

"Nor do I. But since you raised the issue of your anti-bullying policies, I think that this is a concern. That boy was bullying my son by making fun of his mother. Will the same consequences apply to him?"

"Both boys have been, and will continue to, he spoken to by the school counselors for their actions. But I think that is pertinent that you do realize that your son responded to a few hurtful words in the most extreme manner possible. I don't know what, or how he is taught to respond at home, but it will remain unacceptable in this school."

He was becoming furious, and realized precisely why Felicity had lost her temper because he was on the verge of it. Oliver took a slow breath, trying to steady his frustrations and began again.

Before he spoke, the headmaster interjected.

"William will need to learn to keep his temper under control as long as his parents are public figures. Unfortunately, he is at the age where students are not clueless to what is being said, and being mad because kids talk is not going to do him any favors."

The interjection did not help whatsoever. All he got from that was no matter what so said, no matter what kids read or heard from their parents he had to hear it and just live with it. Felicity's reaction made so much more sense right now.

"I disagree. We chose this school because we understood that the anti-bullying policy would be adhered to. Not that certain students would be excluded from its protections just because their parents are in the news." Oliver got up, buttoning his suit coat as he stood. "If my son is victimized again in this school, we are going to have a problem."

"Is that a threat, Mr. Mayor?"

"You don't want me to threaten you." Oliver said, his eyes narrowing in anger. "It's a promise."

. . .

Felicity had called twice since his meeting with the headmaster to try and ask how it had gone. He just hardly had time to listen to voicemails in between back to back meetings with the police chief, county executive, Quentin…never mind playing catch up from the day that he had missed, and giving his statement after the incident in the Glades. Having to report that he'd been rescued by a mysterious new vigilante was only going to raise the heat on everyone out there.

He was relieved that they didn't have any cameras of video footage. Based off of what Roy had told him, he didn't think he'd be able to explain easily his return from being almost dead, and walking out of there on his own accord.

After he'd given his statement, Quentin remained in his office looking deeply concerned about the events.

"I knew it was a bad idea." He said, musing on the meeting.

"I took a risk. It didn't pay off." Oliver told him. Then again, he hadn't told Quentin the whole story.

He couldn't ever tell anyone the whole story. What he did try to do was make his best effort to pretend that none of it had ever happened.

"I'm glad the kid was there." Quentin clapped him on the shoulder, "But there's been something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"I haven't had a good conversation start that way in a long time." Oliver sighed.

"The kid kept you in one piece this time, and you made it home safe. But you take a lot of risks Oliver—not just at night. Alderman Scott is behind bars for now, and there is going to be an election for his replacement, but I wonder if you're really considering what you're doing. It's only a few weeks out, and you're going to have that little girl."

"I think about it all of the time." Oliver said, speaking honestly.

It was on his mind all of the time. He had a wife, and soon two kids that were depending on him to be there, to be a part of life. They didn't ask to live the life he did, and it wasn't fair to lay the pressure of his nights on them.

But what about wanting to raise them in this city. How could he ever leave it? What would happen to this city?

"But what would happen to the city, Quentin?"

There was a long moment of silence, and he figured that Quentin didn't have an answer. For a short while, things had been quiet. Police corruption had decreased significantly, and he felt like they were actually accomplishing things. But there had always been problems that they couldn't solve themselves.

"I used to think that." Quentin said, leaning back in the chair across from the desk. "Dinah asked me to leave the force once. A long time ago."

"I didn't know that." Oliver said, surprised.

At one point, it would have been impossible to imagine Quentin Lance without a badge.

"She was pregnant with Sara, and I'd had a close call. I had my ass handed to me by a suspect on a drug bust, and I was in the hospital for weeks." Quentin closed his eyes as he talked, remembering, maybe thinking how things might have turned out different. "She found out that the junior college had offered me a position there, teaching criminal justice."

He got what Quentin was saying to him, but he just didn't know how to do it.

"Dinah was furious. In her eyes, I was putting my life and our family on the line for no reason at all. Laurel didn't understand why I didn't come home for days and Dinah told me she couldn't do it anymore." Quentin swallowed, "Hardest moment of my life was watching them pack up their things and walk out the door."

"But they came back." Oliver said, "Dinah understood why you had to do it. You were protecting the city."

"I think maybe she did." Quentin said, "But there was also a part of her that always thought I put the city ahead of them. Don't make the job more important than your family."

A chill shook him; he couldn't imagine ever seeing his family walking away from him. He couldn't imagine losing them, but he couldn't imagine losing the hood either.

"You're never going to regret that time that you spent with them, the time that you were there with them." Quentin continued, "But don't be like me. Don't regret spending time hunting down a criminal instead of seeing your daughter's ballet recital."

It just didn't seem like he could win. No matter what something always seemed to slip by the wayside. He had sworn that he was going to fix this city, he was going to save it. More and more he was struggling to balance that with his family.

Quentin sighed, "None of it is easy, but you don't need me to tell you that."

"No," Oliver said. "You don't.

. . .

Felicity was annoyed. It had been hours before she heard back from Oliver. When he finally returned her calls, she had sent out Roy and Thea to pick up dinner and been hoping that he would be on his way home to eat with them.

"We might have to look into other schools," Oliver said after greeting her, and apologizing for how long the call had taken.

"He's not such a delight is he? Makes it kind of hard to stay even keeled, doesn't he?" Felicity found herself fighting the urge to tell him 'I told you so'.

"They're letting people paint a target on his back just because of what his name is." Oliver said, with a sigh she could hear through the phone.

"I already started looking." Felicity admitted.

She glanced back to her computer. She had found two other, very good schools within the city limits.

"Felicity," Oliver sighed, "What would I do without you?"

"Perform your own google searches." She teased him. "Are you on your way home? Roy and Thea are picking up Chinese for dinner."

She knew the answer was no when he hesitated.

"There's something I have to do tonight." He said finally. "I will be back before you go to bed."

"Do you promise?" she asked, feeling a shiver of fear that just seemed to get indefinitely worse since the night that Roy had rescued him.

"I promise."

As she ended the call with him, she wished she could blame the fear on her pregnancy, that the hormones coursing through her veins had made her so worrisome. But the truth of the matter was that from the moment that he had kicked her out of the bunker, she lived in constant fear that something was going to happen.


	7. Chapter 7

Flawed Design

Chapter 7

. . .

It struck him that after six years, nothing had ever really gotten better at all. The city was just as ugly as it had ever been. On the east side, people didn't even feel safe leaving the convention center and returning to their cars in the parking garage.

It was no wonder was it, when three people in the last two weeks had been killed.

Sometimes it was like he had never left hell.

After probing the police chief he had found out that there were no witnesses, and no real reason for any of them to be killed. One was a school teacher and her husband who was an engineer, the other a PhD candidate. They'd been killed in two separate spots, and the only thing that had stayed the same was that anything they had of worth had been stripped away—even a pair of designer shoes.

Oliver decided at that moment that he was going to patrol the area, hoping that he could put this to bed tonight. He knew how disappointed Felicity had been when he told her he wouldn't be home for dinner. He knew how worried she was after the close call that he had in the Glades. And he was only filled with relief that she didn't know the half of it. As scared as she had been, he couldn't even imagine looking her in the face and explaining to her what had really happened. It would have terrified her.

He knew the lie wasn't the best choice, and he never wanted to lie to her again, but this lie was unavoidable for everyone concerned.

So it was here, under the cover of darkness that he decided to utilize this second chance that he had been given to get his city back on track. There was a big concert in the arena across from the convention center, and if someone was going to set out for a big score tonight, it would be here. For the moment, the area was quiet and he clenched his fists, ready to have this resolved.

. . .

The beef and broccoli had made her stomach churn and twist up into knots. At least, she had convinced herself that it was the food that left her feeling sick, not her worry about Oliver back out there again.

She didn't know why it hit her so hard this time. Time and time again she had watched him jump right back into it after injuries. Everything felt so different this time, and he had been so on edge lately.

Felicity tried desperately to shake it off.

"Can I cook you something?" Roy offered, after seeing her push away her dinner. "Oliver isn't going to like you skipping meals."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. What Oliver didn't like could fill a book. He wasn't a very worried, heavily pregnant woman who was currently disgusted with Chinese food.

"Well if he was here, he could tell me himself." She snapped.

Her reaction surprised her as much as it did them for a moment. She was feeling incredibly irritable, and knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep until he was back in their bed. It would be better once the baby was born, she convinced herself. Then things would be normal again.

A part of her knew that was ridiculous, maybe the most ridiculous thought she had considered in a while, but it made her feel better.

The disgruntled and distressed look on William's face made her feel guilty for her outburst. She realized a long time ago that he hated to see any kind of conflict between her and his dad, and she didn't blame him. She remembered how upset she used to get watching her parents fight. It was the worst.

"Unfortunately," Felicity made her best attempt at a smile, looking directly at William. "Your dad had to work late, so we are going to have to get a head start on that robotics product of yours."

"A robot?" Thea seemed to pick up on her cue quickly. "That is so cool. I never made a robot."

"I never did my homework." Roy offered, causing all of them to laugh. "But that was a pretty poor choice."

"We're making a motion activated guard robot." William said, looking pleased with the change in the conversation. "Theoretically, what it would do if only react if someone triggers the motions sensors, and then scare them away."

Both Roy and Thea looked stunned by the idea.

"Like…a highly technical version of a scarecrow?" Thea asked.

"Pretty much." William said, launching into an explanation of how he would do it.

She had been looking forward to working on their project with William for a while. Hopefully it distracted both of them. It was easy to tell that William worried about his father when he wasn't home at night, and she enjoyed having a task to keep her mind busy. Once the baby was born, if she couldn't convince Oliver to let her back out there with him, she was thinking about her alternatives and there were a lot of them. She needed some way to spend her days though.

A few times, she'd considered calling Curtis and suggesting that they return to their business, but it seemed so difficult to put aside his feelings toward Oliver. It wouldn't make it easy.

"Well you're obviously going to win," Roy said. "That's the most awesome thing I've ever heard of."

"I have a lot of competition." William explained, sighing. "Sarah Allen is at the top of the class and she is going to make a robot that can paint, and Freddie is making one that is wind powered that can follow a light."

"They may well," Thea said, looking unimpressed with the projects he listed off, "But you're the only one that has Felicity."

"Very true." Felicity nodded, and patted him on the shoulder as she got up. "Come get me when you've finished dinner, and we'll get started."

In the bedroom, she pulled out her tablet and turned it on. She needed some peace of mind.

Oliver, she knew, would not like it. After what happened last time she had gone to the bunker and tagged his bike and bow with trackers. She had considered slipping tracking nanites into his morning orange juice, but had thought better of it. Her trackers were sufficient.

Besides, she consoled herself, how much could it really surprise him? This wasn't exactly out of her wheelhouse. Multiple times in the beginning she had tagged him, and he had dumped them. She had just been relieved that he hadn't changed the codes to get into the bunker on her. She settled onto the bed and sat in silence for a time watching as the blinking red dot on her screen moved through the east side.

Her fingers were itching to do some research, she was dying to take a look and see what it was there that had piqued his interest and tried to fight it off. She had made a commitment to accepting his wishes to work alone. As it was, she was treading through a murky area of dishonesty just watching him move through the streets.

After a moment, Felicity disregarded her first instinct and hacked into the SCPD databases. It wasn't really like she was checking up on him, she reasoned. She was merely a concerned citizen looking into what was happening in her city.

It didn't take her long to find the murders that had yet to be reported in the news. One middle aged couple and a young woman were both shot twice in the chest and all of their valuables had been taken. It seemed like such a straightforward robbery, but the amount of violence seemed unnecessary. Why would he ever have to kill them? She couldn't imagine that all three of them had put up a fuss. She continued to sort through the evidence, but couldn't find much of interest.

The shooter had used a 9mm, one of the most common for murders in the whole state. It hadn't been used at any other crime scenes, there weren't any witnesses that saw the murders happen, there wasn't any camera footage that had caught the murders.

Felicity pulled up a map of the area and referred back to Oliver. He was near 8th and Main St. That was just west of the theater. The roof of theater made for an excellent vantage point of the two main pathways to the parking garage. He had clearly come to the same consensus, she noticed now that was exactly where he stood.

As she hacked into the traffic cameras in the area, she realized that she was treading into some dangerous murky territory. He wouldn't like this at all. She could see him standing still in the dark night and watching. After that she started looking at the surrounding streets. Four streets down there was a drug deal in progress, SCPD had a squad car positioned near the sight of the original murder, about two streets east of where Oliver was watching. She imagined that there was a number of directions that anyone could come from.

Most of the theater attendees would go east, in the direction of the parking garage. Three blocks to the west was a cheaper parking spot, and another block further than that was the direction of the bus stop and entrance to the train stop.

Before she lost all sense, deciding to call him and provide him with the intel that she had uncovered, she turned it off.

When there was a knock on the door, she jumped, and chided herself for being so tense.

"Felicity?" William called through the door. "I'm ready."

Nothing to be afraid of, she reminded herself. She had some peace of mind and no one—Oliver especially—was any the wiser.

. . .

Things were still awkward between them.

Thea was relieved with Roy's suggestion of a glass of wine once William had left to work on his project with Felicity.

She had settled on the idea of not speaking of what had happened anymore. After telling Roy that she forgave him, there didn't seem to be anywhere else that the conversation could go. He promised her that he was, for good, done with ever stepping out there like he did ever again. Her only option had been to trust him, or to lose him forever and she couldn't imagine the alternative—so trust it was.

But things were still uncomfortable, it was an unspoken wedge between them. They didn't talk about the wedding; they didn't talk about their plans for anything. They made small talk when everyone was around, they made joked, they asked William about school, and talked about the baby with Oliver and Felicity.

It was at night like this that it was hard.

As she took a sip of the glass he'd handed her, she was so grateful. She realized that if one of them didn't say something soon it was going to be another uncomfortable silent night between them and wracked her brain for something to say.

Thea knew they should talk about the wedding, talk about why she had stopped making any plans, but couldn't find the words. She was still wearing her engagement ring, she still wanted to marry him, but she just couldn't bring herself to put things into motion.

"I got fitted for a tux." Roy said, his voice lingering in the air like he sensed he was treading water.

She nearly spilled her glass as she set it back down on the table.

Thea felt her hands clench involuntarily. She didn't think she was ready for this conversation. She didn't want to have this conversation.

"That's good." She said, avoiding his glance.

 _Was it?_ She asked herself.

She found herself taking stock of the marriages that she had witnessed. Her mother and her father, her mother and Walter, Malcolm and his wife. They'd all been based on deceit, on lies. They were people who had lied all of the time. The only marriage she saw so far built on honesty was Oliver and Felicity and it had taken a long time for them to get to that point.

Thea supposed that what she offered him wasn't actually forgiveness if she continued to second guess how honest he was being with her. It had to be all or nothing.

"I decided on flowers." She said finally, "Gerbera daisies."

She took a long sip of wine.

"They're your favorite." Roy said with a smile, a look of relief crossing his face. "I thought we could go cake testing tomorrow."

"I'd like that." Thea told him. "There is a place on the West side that apparently makes an incredible strawberry filling. I found them when I was planning Ollie and Felicity's wedding."

"Then that's where we'll start." Roy smiled.

He reached across the table, taking her hand and winding his fingers around hers.

Thea had to give him another chance. As much as his lie had hurt her, she knew that it would hurt so much more to walk away and say goodbye to the new life that she had built with him. Forgiveness meant going all in, and so she decided, that is what she would do.

. . .

It was easier than he thought it would be. Oliver caught sight of two police cruisers to the west, and decided that he would trust them to do their jobs.

He went west, watching the dark streets that lead to the train station. Two streets from the theater there was a scream, and he saw three people. A couple and one other person with a gun.

Oliver swung down from the rooftops, dropping down from the rooftops and shooting the 9mm out of his hand. He glanced to the couple, and for a moment froze at the sight of a heavily pregnant blonde and the man with her.

"Get out of here!" he yelled, before turning back to the man who had threatened them.

"It's over for you." He said in a low voice, "You're done threatening my city."

As he moved toward the shooter he found himself filled with indescribable rage and reached for an arrow at the same time the shooter pulled another gun from his hands.

Oliver dodged a round, ran toward him and unarmed him with a swift turn on his bow. He knocked him onto the cold concrete ground and his fists did the rest of the work. He pummeled him into submission, and the man tried desperately to reach for the gun he had lost, begging for mercy.

There seemed to be a small part of him that knew this wasn't necessary, knew this wasn't remotely necessary. He had a slew of tranquilizer arrows that would have done the job. Instead, the animalistic rage seemed to tear through him, convinced he needed to make sure that it was done, that he could never hurt anyone again. He grabbed an arrow and stabbed it through the man's spinal column.

Hardly a minute seemed to go by and it passed. Reason flowed back through his mind, and he saw the damage he had caused, the shooter's face was damaged beyond recognition. It was far too late for any medical intervention; he had severed the man's spinal cord.

He was frozen in horror. This was a version of himself that he had never met, it barely could be compared to the horrors that he had even inflicted on Shreve.

Oliver's mind raced, trying to find any other solution to what had happened. It was like a switch had been flipped inside his brain, and he hadn't been released from the rage until it was over.

When he heard sirens, he took off on foot, racing through the streets until he found a point of escape back to his bike. He swung across the rooftops on autopilot until he was back on the bike and heading back to the bunker.

He'd murdered a man, again.

. . .

The fear that it might happen, the fear of the unknown was eating him alive. He found himself jumping unawares at any raised voice, at any loud sound. He couldn't sleep at night because he thought nervously about Oliver losing in the streets and being condemned to the same fate he faced after being injected by the mirakuru.

He struggled to look Thea in the eyes, knowing that their entire relationship was now based on the biggest lie that he had ever told her, and that their marriage and life together could be the cost of it ever being exposed.

For a long while, he had thought that it was over. Thea had gone weeks without the slightest mention of the wedding, or dresses, or flowers or photographers. Before that, hardly a few hours went by without a new suggestion, or a plan of someplace to go and try and see what they had to offer.

And then she just went silent. Thea didn't talk about it at all, she didn't really talk about anything. She talked to him about the news, about an article she read in a magazine, she talked about what they were doing for dinner and how she wanted to pick up a blanket that would match the baby's bassinet. She talked about a night out with the two of them and William so Felicity and Oliver could have some alone time, anything except getting married.

Roy found himself tiptoeing around her and Oliver. He was worried beyond belief that this was going to blow up in their faces and Oliver was going to snap, he was so incredibly worried of the fallout between himself and Thea over that happening. He was worried that he would lose her forever when she discovered the lie, and he was worried about spending their lives together when the foundation was no based on one massive lie.

It was easy to say that he wasn't sleeping well. He barely slept at all. Sometimes when she slept, and he lay awake in their bed he imagined telling her the truth, and all his reasons for why he did what he did. None of those scenarios ever went well. He imagined never telling her, and her finding out if Oliver lost it...he liked those ones even less. That was the scenario that terrified him, he imagined Oliver with no restraint, he imagined Oliver as Slade Wilson and it made his blood run cold. Lately, he imagined everything perfect. There were no repercussions, and Felicity and Thea both never found out about their deceit. Oliver was fine, spending time with his wife and children, and he and Thea were standing at an altar, married.

He pictured her in her wedding dress and she was beautiful. He imagined her hand in his, vowing to be the perfect husband to her. He thought about all the things that he would do right, all the things he would make right in any kind of attempt to balance out this lie. He would do anything to make her happy.

And then it happened. He thought for weeks that it would just be a fantasy. Then he told her that he had been fitted for the tux.

Roy didn't know what it was, but in a moment it felt like something had changed. She had engaged with him, and they tested cakes, and walked in the park. He made a joke about coming along and helping her pick out her wedding dress and she laughed, telling him what bad luck it was.

"Besides," Thea laughed, pulling him close to her. "I already have my dress."

Just like that, it felt like everything was back on track. It felt like life had realigned and everything was going to be okay.

. . .

Oliver looked over his suit, over his hands, over his face trying to find a trace of blood leftover. He had done this for over two hours and come up with nothing.

He spent the time trying to explain it as something else, as anything other than what it was. As hard as he tried, even if he tried to convince himself that he had just been angry, he couldn't accept it. There was only one possible answer for what had happened, but he didn't want to think it.

It was the only option left. So he considered his options. He could handle it, just like he told Roy—he could handle it. Before he wasn't aware, he hadn't realized the effect that it had on him. Now he knew what was going on he would just proceed with more restraint.

For a brief moment, Oliver had considered reaching out to Nyssa. She had been able to treat Thea, been able to fix whatever it had done to her. There was no way of doing that in confidence. He did not trust that Nyssa would keep this between them, he believed that Thea would find out and would not put it past Nyssa to target Roy for his deception.

There would be another solution, he decided, he would find a permanent one, but for now he focused on restraint and limiting his time on the streets. He could handle it, he had handled everything else that came his way and this was just one more hurdle.

Oliver had arrived back home slightly later than he had told her that he would, and was sure that she would still be awake. The apartment was quiet, but he stopped into William's room first and found him sound asleep.

He reminded himself of what it was all for. Maybe when he was on his own he would have given up on this growing darkness in himself, but he had made a promise to come back, to be here for William and soon, for Laurel too. Letting them, and Felicity down was not an option. Oliver kissed William's head, being careful not to wake him and went upstairs.

Thea and Roy's room seemed quiet, but it seemed like things were beginning to go back to normal for them. It filled him with relief, they had both made deep sacrifices for being involved in his life. They deserved some happiness.

Quietly he opened the door to the bedroom, moving as silently as he could just in case Felicity was asleep. Part of him hoped that she was so that she wouldn't ask too many questions about tonight.

She was reading a book, which she set down as he walked into the room.

"Late night." Felicity said quietly, with a question in her eyes.

"It was." Oliver closed the door behind him, leaning over and giving her a kiss.

He ignored the silent question as he always had. Never had he been so glad that he had established the ground rules of his nights.

"How was your night?" he asked as he started to undress.

Felicity didn't press the questions that she seemed to want to ask, instead telling him about their night.

"William and I worked on his project. I think we're going to need a new soldering iron," Felicity mused, "He's really done most of the work himself, but he's worried about winning, of course."

Oliver focused on pushing all of the other thoughts out of his mind, and focused on the far more important conversation with his wife. He didn't need that as a distraction. All he wanted to do was hear about this.

"That's probably not good." Oliver said, "I should probably talk to him."

"There's nothing wrong with some healthy competition." Felicity said, "He wants to make you proud."

Oliver smiled, looking over at his wife. "I think he wants to make you proud."

"Well," Felicity smiled, pretending like the thought of it didn't make her thrilled. "William was actually talking about MIT. He thinks he wants to study engineering or robotics."

"See." Oliver pulled her close, glad that they had developed such a close relationship.

Felicity was good for William.

"You don't see him talking about wanting to attend any of the colleges I dropped out of."

Felicity laughed, then silenced for a moment.

"The baby's been kicking." She said, taking his hand and resting it on her stomach. "Feel it?"

For a moment they were both silent and he was disappointed to feel nothing, and was stunned when he felt it. He didn't have words at first, couldn't explain to her how it made him feel, but for a moment he was just filled with incredible calm. It was the best that he had felt in days, and it seemed like everything else just melted away.

Oliver pulled her close to him, her head resting against his chest and thinking. Soon they were going to have a child of their own, and he knew that everything was going to change.

"We really have to start looking for a house." He said, glancing toward the crib in the corner of their room.

"Preferably one with a master bathroom." Felicity sighed, "I feel like I should walk by the guest room with earplugs."

Oliver cringed, that was still a thought he preferred to not think about.

"Do you want to watch the news?" she asked.

"No." Oliver shook his head, at one point the death would be sure to be on the news, and he wasn't ready to figure it out yet. "Tell me more about your night."

"Well…"

He settled into the pillows, and enjoyed the quiet murmur of her explanation of her night. This was all he ever really wanted, just to be here with her, and he was not going to do anything to risk it.

. . .

After her last checkup, they made plans to have a lunch date all on their own.

Felicity had to admit she was excited, time alone with Oliver was at an all-time prime. He had been struggling to tie up a lot of ends at work so that he could have some time with her at the baby at home after she was born. She was really hoping that it worked out for them because her mom had scheduled a flight out the day before her due date, and she was really feeling the need for a buffer. Especially once her mother started to suggest all the things that she should be doing with the baby, instead of what she was doing.

Donna was already in hysterics because she had declined to hold a Kiddush for Laurel. Now her mother had decided that she was completely and totally disregarding their heritage as a whole.

Just thinking about it made her head ache. As excited as she was to meet her baby girl, she had a feeling that it was going to come with a price. As a matter of fact, she had gotten a good look at that price after Thea had the brilliant idea of watching a childbirth video online, and right now she was mostly horrified. She spent most of her time at the checkup trying not to think about that video, so it was probably a good thing that Oliver had been paying attention to what Dr. Lau was saying.

For now, she laid back, and tried to relax, looking forward to lunch. She was starving, again. It was ridiculous how hungry she was all of the time. Just last night she had begged Oliver to make a late night run to Big Belly Burger because she had been craving their burgers and fries, desperately, and Oliver had happily complied. It really didn't matter though. With just a few weeks to go, all of her thoughts felt consumed by baby Laurel. What would she look like? She hoped she had Oliver's eyes, and that she was healthy. A full head of hair would be nice…

Her thought trailed off as she realized that Oliver made a wrong turn. Actually, she realized, he had made a number of wrong turns.

"You passed the restaurant." She informed him, "Oliver, it's about five miles back behind us."

"I know." Oliver smiled at her, and took her hand. "I have a surprise for you. It'll just be a quick detour."

She rolled her eyes, him and his surprises.

"Well, I hope you realize that I am way too pregnant and hungry for a surprise that doesn't end with food and a place to sit."

"You won't be disappointed." Oliver assured her.

He was right, it hadn't been a much longer drive and they pulled into a quiet residential area that wasn't far away.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

God, she thought, looking at the houses as they drove past. They were gorgeous. Oliver pulled up in front of a dark gray colonial style home, with a dark green door and a yard that she was envious of. She imagined that the backyard was as gloriously manicured as the front. She never really got the hang of that when they lived in Ivy Town, but these people did apparently.

"What do you think?" Oliver asked her, "Could you imagine living here?"

"Who couldn't." She was still looking at the beautiful neighborhood in awe, when Oliver jumped out and opened her door. "What are you doing?"

"I thought you would say that." Oliver said, helping her out of the car. "We have an appointment."

"How did you find this place?"

It wasn't like she hadn't been looking too, but Star City was a tough market, and to find a place with a full yard too…It was a dream house.

Felicity shook her head. "It's gorgeous."

"Quentin has a friend, and she's retiring to move to Central City to live with her daughter." Oliver explained, "She's very interested in selling her home to a family. She's had a lot of offers, but apparently she's very particular. Her father built this house."

"So you decided to butter her up with your very pregnant wife?" Felicity asked, as they walked up toward the door.

"Something like that." Oliver grinned, ringing the bell. "I think you're really going to like this place."

A very elegant woman, with well-coiffed blonde hair answered the door with a smile.

"Mayor Queen, I'm so happy to see you again." She shook his hand, and then turned to her. "You must be Felicity, please come in and sit down."

"Oliver, please." Oliver corrected her smoothly.

Quickly she ushered them into the house and didn't stop chattering about how happy she was to see them until Felicity was sitting in an incredibly comfortable chair in her sitting room, declining a glass of iced tea.

"Oh my, I've never introduced myself." She laughed easily, "Of course your husband knows me, but my name is Evelyn Landingsham. I hear you and your husband are in the market for a home."

"We certainly are." Felicity said, still feeling stunned. "I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me. Unfortunately, my husband didn't tell me about any of this until we pulled up in front of your beautiful home."

"A surprise at this point!" Evelyn turned to Oliver and tutted, "And she looks about ready to go. A surprise is the last thing she needs."

"I am starting to get that." Oliver said, smiling wryly.

"Well," Evelyn settled down on the couch across from them. "Oliver has been very persistent, but I'm afraid I am the one who insisted on meeting you first. It didn't set well with me to sell a house before a woman has seen it."

Felicity shot Oliver a look, a part of her had already wondered if he'd already bought the house. It wasn't something she would put past him.

"It's quite a big house, and there is a lovely yard. I know you have an older son as well, and it's just the perfect size for children to play in." Evelyn explained, "I could tell you all about it, but of course it'll be better to walk through and let you see for yourself, if you're up to it."

"No, of course." Felicity said, "Your home is absolutely remarkable, and we've only seen the sitting room."

"Well, let's sit a moment and catch our breath." Evelyn said, and Felicity was grateful for the suggestion. "Tell me a bit more about yourselves, won't you?"

"Well, I'm not sure how much Oliver has told you, but we have a thirteen-year-old son, and in a few weeks, a daughter. Right now we're in a three-bedroom apartment, and my sister-in-law and her fiancé have been staying with us so it's a bit cramped."

"Oh there is so much room here for visitors." Evelyn clapped her hands together in delight. "Oliver may have told you that the house has five bedrooms, but we also have a mother-in-law suite on the premises that is just wonderful for guests."

Felicity closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the overwhelming horror at the thought of her mother realizing there was actually a property right there she could live in. That was what her nightmares were made of.

"That would be wonderful." Oliver said, "My sister and her fiancé have really taken an active role in our lives lately, and we're hoping they'll be able to stay once the baby is born, for a while at least."

That was much better, Felicity thought with an exhale.

"Well, if you're ready," Evelyn said, "I'd love to show the two of you around."

Again, Felicity accepted some help from Oliver in getting out of the chair. At this point in her pregnancy she had more or less given up on getting out of chairs, or moving from a laying to sitting position on her own accord.

The house was beautiful. As they left the sitting room she took in the fireplace and beautiful bay windows. The kitchen was big and bright with a large island, and a vast length of countertops. She could picture Oliver cooking for them in here, and herself making an effort at cookies with the kids-maybe. It would require some help from Raisa, probably.

They went through the standard rooms. She saw the laundry room, pantries, closets, and one smaller bedroom. Felicity had thought that their house in Ivy Town had been perfect, but this was flawless. Upstairs were more bedrooms, and in the one designed as a sewing room she had a perfect view of how it could look as their daughter's room. The next room was a bit bigger, with plenty of floor space for William to work on his projects and schoolwork, with plenty of light coming in the room.

"This one would be perfect for William." Felicity noted.

Evelyn smiled, "This was my son's room. He was always tinkering away with things, and loved all the natural light that came in."

They glanced at the other bedrooms, and finally came to the master bedroom. It was absolutely gorgeous. Felicity's eyes were drawn to the large bay windows with a seat below them. The closets were huge, with more than enough space for her growing shoe collection. She just about fell in love when she saw the giant Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, and imagined how good that would feel about now.

"Evelyn," she said, as they descended the stairs. "Your home is flawless."

"Now there is just one other thing," she said, "I'd like you to be able to look at the suite outside, but the ground is quite wet, and I'd hate for you to fall. So, I thought Oliver could look it over, and we could sit down."

"Sounds great." Felicity said.

Evelyn handed Oliver the keys to the suite. "It's quite dusty." She warned him, "We haven't had anyone living in there in well over a decade."

He left, and Evelyn lead her back into the sitting room. This time she accepted the offer of some iced tea, and Evelyn came back with not only tea, but some cookies.

"Help yourself," Evelyn encouraged her, "My daughter was just constantly ravenous during her pregnancy."

Felicity took a cookie, and her stomach was glad she did. It had expected lunch over an hour ago and she was starving.

"This is the most beautiful house I've ever seen, Evelyn. I can see your hesitation in selling."

"To be honest, I didn't know that I ever would." Evelyn said, "But Quentin recommended you and your husband so highly I couldn't say no, and I'm so glad I didn't."

Felicity smiled, "So how far did Oliver get in the process with you? I mean, if you would sell to us."

Evelyn took a cookie from the plate and took her time chewing. Felicity wondered if there was something that the nice older woman hadn't told her, but before she could ask, Oliver returned with not only keys, but a folder of papers in his hands.

"All you have to do is sign." Evelyn told her, "Your husband worked out the rest of the details. I already scheduled movers and everything, he was very convincing when he told me you would want it."

Felicity tried to aim for stunned surprise, but like most things Oliver did, it no longer surprised her.

"It's ours?"

"All we have to do is sign on the dotted line." Oliver told her, "We worked out everything else."

It was unbelievable, Felicity thought as she signed the papers that Oliver handed her. It just didn't seem possible that things were coming together so perfectly for them.

"Is there any chance that the recipe for those cookies comes with the house?" Felicity asked, taking another cookie once she was finished.

"Sweetheart, I like you so much I won't even charge for it." Evelyn looked delighted with the outcome of the events.

She almost felt sorry to leave. Now that the house belonged to them, all she really wanted to do was languish in it.


	8. Chapter 8

Flawed Design

Chapter 8

. . .

As excited as she was to run back home and tell everyone about their new house, she was still completely ravenous—even after eating a completely unacceptable number of the best chocolate chip cookies she'd ever had in her life.

Felicity was enjoying the carbonara pasta that she had ordered, and trying very hard not to think about the number of lunges it was going to take to work off all these carbs after the baby was born.

"Do you think we really could move in before the baby is born?" Felicity asked him.

Oliver looked contemplative for a moment, and she wondered how far in advance he had planned the move.

"Well, I think so. Evelyn has movers coming tomorrow, and as long as Roy is willing to do some hefty lifting I think that we could do things pretty quickly. Quentin even offered to help."

"Oliver, it's only three weeks." Felicity reminded him.

She was wondering if he had overextended himself again. It seemed like a lot to power through in three weeks, and what if the baby was early?

"I don't know if we'd have the time to get painters in there, but Evelyn kept things up really well. We can always set up a weekend for that after." Oliver said, "Moving our stuff in and getting it unpacked could probably be done in a weekend. We have a lot of hands on deck."

"That sounds awfully ambitious." She chided him over bites of pasta. "Besides, Thea and Roy have a lot on their plate too. She's in the middle of planning the wedding still."

 _Now that things are back on track,_ she added silently. God, was she ever relieved about that. Seeing them on the outs had made her feel so bad.

"She doesn't want to have the wedding until after the baby is born." Oliver reminded her, "She wants to have Laurel in the pictures."

"I don't know," she shook her head, "It's a lot to do."

"It'll be worth it." Oliver told her, "If we're in a crunch, I'll hire extra help

"Well," she sighed, it would be nice to bring their baby to their home. "Let's run it by William. It's another big change for him, and right in the middle of school and his big project. If he's on board, I am too."

Oliver smiled, "That's fair."

He reached across the table and took her hand. "I really love you, Felicity Queen."

It all happened in a moment, what should have been one more perfect moment in a perfect afternoon with Oliver was tarnished when a waiter tripped and three mugs of beer clattered to the ground after landing on her lap. She had gasped in shock, and dismay for her outfit, but she was fine apart from reeking of beer.

It all turned around so quickly. Oliver jumped up from the table, grabbing the server; a boy who couldn't have been more than twenty and wrenching him around with accusations and threats.

"Oliver!" She yelled, struggling to get up and stop him.

As soon as she saw the boy's eyes, she could tell that Oliver was hurting him. Oliver had grabbed his arm and twisted it.

"Oliver! It was an accident!"

It wasn't until she grabbed his arm, looking into his eyes, that Oliver let the boy go.

"I'm sorry." Felicity told the boy as he uttered a terrified apology. " _He's_ _sorry_."

"Oliver," Her words came out in a slow hiss of anger. "Have you lost your mind?"

Felicity noticed all of the people watching, and tossed some money on the table for the meal.

"We're going." She said, "We have to talk about this."

Felicity knew that he had a quick temper, she knew that he was overprotective to an extreme fault, but this had been insane.

"I made a mistake." He said quietly, not looking her in the eye. "I was worried about you, and I lost my temper."

She bit down on everything she had to say until they were at the car.

"Oliver, he spilled a tray and you almost broke his arm!" Felicity exclaimed at him, fuming. "You could have been arrested! You terrified him."

"I overreacted." Oliver said calmly. "Let's just go home, okay. Don't let this ruin the rest of your day. I'm sorry, and I'll fix it, okay. I just—I was just worried about you."

Right now, she was the one worried about him. She knew that he had a lot going on, but this outburst was way out of the usual for him. They were going to have to have a long discussion about this. There was something going on with him, and it was not normal.

. . .

"You smell like beer."

Roy realized that he had said the wrong thing as he saw the angry looks on both Oliver and Felicity's faces.

"I'm taking a shower." Felicity said, turning away from them with a heated look. "Why don't you ask Oliver why we won't be eating at Carpaccio's ever again."

They stood in silence, facing off until Felicity was well up the stairs and the water was running.

He didn't want to ask, and Oliver didn't seem to want to tell.

Roy thought about the things that he hoped it was about. Maybe they overcooked a steak, or Oliver looked at an attractive woman too long. Neither one of those scenarios seemed likely. Oliver wasn't currently arrested, so he hadn't killed anyone. He imagined Felicity's reaction would be ever worse had that been the scenario.

"Are you going to make me ask?" Roy said finally, wishing he had taken Thea up on her offer to test out scent profiles for her bouquet.

Anything seemed better than have this conversation right now.

"It's not that." Oliver said in a tight, ask no questions voice. "A waiter spilled his tray on her, and Felicity didn't like that I grabbed him."

"Probably not the best response." Roy said slowly, knowing he was treading into dangerous territory as he continued. "Was he hurt?"

"No." Oliver said, clearly looking to end the conversation.

Roy didn't dare say it out loud, but Oliver still looked awfully angry.

"I was going to make a drink." Roy said finally, "You look like you could use one."

"I'm fine." Oliver said, "It's fine. Stop looking at me like I'm going to blow up. I have much better restraint than most people do. Someone dropped something on my pregnant wife, I think I was entitled to get a little angry."

"Sure." Roy nodded his head.

He decided to change the subject.

"How did the big surprise go?"

The change in conversation seemed to improve Oliver's mood somewhat.

"We bought the house. After we talk to William, we're going to see about moving in before Laurel is born."

"Just between the two of us, we could probably get nearly everything moved in a day." Roy said.

Oliver agreed, nodding his head.

"I'm going to order new appliances, and Felicity will probably need to buy some more furniture at some point. It's not going to be that bad." Oliver said. "You and Thea will have to stay in the guest room at the house for a bit, the addition is going to need a little work."

"Well, whatever you need. I'm here for it." Roy smiled, hoping what Oliver wouldn't need was someone to stop him from himself. He hoped it was limited to some manual labor.

He hoped that everything he was thinking was wrong.

"I'm going to see if Felicity is ready." Oliver said, turning toward the stairs. "We're telling William the good news."

Once Oliver was gone, Roy exhaled. He took a long sip of the coke and whiskey that he had poured for himself, and scrubbed his hand through his hair. The bad feeling that had been lingering in his stomach for a while now hadn't improved at all.

After he finished his drink, he pulled out his phone and texted Thea. Change of plans. Oliver and Felicity bought the house. Dinner with them tonight.

Roy poured himself another drink, having a feeling that he was going to need it to keep his anxiety in check. He had been feeling panicked about the lie they'd told for a long time, and now it was only worse. He had thought that Oliver had been on edge lately, and now he knew that something was definitely wrong with him.

. . .

Whatever it was, passed. However, the memory of that dark feeling that had eclipsed his judgement at lunch still had a faint hold on him, one that he could not shower away or work off.

Oliver knew that his reaction hadn't been normal, he knew that he had scared Felicity, and he knew for sure that in that moment that he had slipped up and it could have been much uglier. He had lost his grasp on any kind of restraint he'd ever had.

He also knew the answer that Roy was looking for, and he refused to give it. It was one thing to come to terms with this himself, he would figure it out. He would continue to figure this out and fix it.

Oliver was relieved that dinner seemed to carry on as normal. He cooked up some steaks and roasted new potatoes, and Felicity had seemed to let the outburst fall to the side amidst their big announcement to William.

He was relieved, because right now he didn't have anything to make her feel better.

"I can't believe we're moving." William said, grinning eagerly as he ate his dinner. "Dad, that is so cool. What does my room look like?"

"It's big." Oliver assured him.

"And bright, and it had plenty of room for a workspace." Felicity said, talking animatedly about the house again. "And there is a huge yard. Plenty of space for softball and playing catch with your dad."

"When are we going to start moving?" William asked. "Can I help?"

He was such a good kid, Oliver thought. For a long time, he didn't think that William was ever going to recover from his mother's death, and he'd held a lot of guilt about that. He would feel guilty for what happened to Samantha for the rest of his life. But seeing how William was flourishing now, made him feel the smallest bit better. It was just one reminder of what he was fighting this for.

"I'm going to need a lot of help from you." Oliver told him, "Actually, I'm going to need you to start packing up things as soon as possible. Roy and I are going to start moving things into the new house on Saturday."

"That is so fast." Thea said, refilling her wine glass. "What did you have to do to get her out of the house so fast, Ollie?"

"Evelyn was eager to go. She has a daughter and grandchildren in Central City and she wants to live with them." Oliver explained, "We also covered all of the movers' fees to expedite the process."

"And it is worth every penny." Felicity seemed to agree with him on that point. "It's just so cramped here. I've already got a great system for the most efficient way for us to move things from here and unpack in the house."

Oliver smiled, "Of course you do."

"I can pack up my whole room tonight." William said.

"Slow down there just a little." Felicity warned him, "Remember, we won't be in the new house right away. This isn't happening overnight."

"It sort of feels like it is." Thea laughed.

"We can do a lot of it overnight." Roy said, glancing toward him for the first time over dinner. "We could probably do it in one trip with two trucks."

"That's the plan." Oliver said, "You're ready for some manual labor?"

"It'll be a breeze." Roy said, "Unpacking is the hard part."

Roy put on a good show, Oliver noted, but he wasn't blind. He saw the way that Roy was watching his every move, like the smallest thing might cause him to snap. He didn't think it worked that way, as a matter of fact, he didn't know how it worked.

"Can we start after dinner?" William turned to Felicity and asked the question. "Will you help me pack my room?"

"Absolutely." Felicity told him.

Oliver sighed, she was so difficult sometimes.

"Remember what Dr. Lau said. You're supposed to be taking it easy right now, so no heavy lifting. You can oversee, but that's it."

"Well of course, sergeant." Felicity rolled her eyes.

God, she was a handful, and he loved her with all he had. He was not going to let her down this time.

. . .

"Why don't you start with your bookshelf." Felicity suggested, "Pack up all the novels and comic books that you're not reading right now and set any others to the side for now."

William was making it quick work. He started pulling all of the books off of the shelves and packing them neatly in the boxes. It seemed funny to her how lived in the room was. It was barely a year that William had been here, since they had all been here together living their lives. He had acquired a lot of things in that time.

"It looks so empty." William said, once his bookshelf was cleared.

He taped the boxes shut in the same way that Oliver instructed him to, and pushed it toward Felicity who was sitting in his desk chair with a sharpie. She labeled it clearly. William-Books. On the note pad under William she wrote furniture, and then bookshelf. That would be one of the first pieces of furniture that they could clear out.

"Why don't we do all of the clothes that you don't need right now." Felicity told him, "You'll want to hold off on your desk, and bed, obviously. Those will be the last to go."

William nodded his head, moving over to his closet and beginning to pack away clothes. Felicity figured this one would take a while. The closet with filled to the brim with clothes that probably needed to be donated and replaced, but that was something to do after they were settled in.

"I hope dad is home more often at our new house." William said, focusing on the clothes he was packing as he talked. "It was really nice having him home for dinner."

"That was nice." Felicity agreed, wishing that would be the case. "I'm sure we'll have a lot of nice dinners in the new house. When your dad and I moved into our first house, he made the best roast chicken I ever had in my life."

"Best ever, huh?"

Felicity hadn't noticed Oliver standing in the doorway.

"Lurk much?" She smiled over at him, "We're making progress."

"Roy and Thea went out for dessert." Oliver stepped into the room and took a seat on the bed. "They're going to bring back some ice cream for anyone."

"Dad, we're making a lot of progress. Look at my bookshelf." William looked beyond proud of himself. "I sealed them up just like you said, and we're getting the clothes packed up now."

"I think you're going to have to go clothes shopping soon." Oliver said, saying what she had been thinking. "Those look a little small for you."

William frowned, "I hate shopping."

"I do to." Oliver assured him, "But it's a necessary evil."

"We'll figure it out after we get moved in." Felicity told him, "But a shopping trip will definitely be in order."

William looked disgruntled by the idea, but continued on with packing clothes away.

"I was looking at your shoe collection." Oliver said, turning to Felicity with a grin. "I think we're going to need more boxes."

"Don't give me that look." She pointed at him and frowned, "Those are all very good shoes who have treated me well, they don't deserve to be disparaged like that."

Oliver sighed, "Well, I tried."

"I'm going to pack up the kitchen in the morning." Felicity started.

"You're going to what?" Oliver asked.

"I'm going to— " She stopped as she realized that Oliver had in fact heard her clearly, but didn't think she should be doing it. "You heard me."

"You're supposed to be resting." Oliver told her, "Someone else can do that. I'll do that. Besides…"

He looked her over in a surveying way that made her uncomfortable.

"I don't think I trust you with my stainless steel." Oliver told her.

She rolled her eyes at him, but was relieved to see this version of Oliver again. Felicity wasn't sure what had gotten into him at the restaurant, but she hadn't liked it at all. That wasn't the Oliver Queen she married.

. . .

Lyla Diggle looked at the file that had crossed her desk, and realized there were a number of things to consider. She had kept a lot of secrets in her times, a number of secrets from her own husband, but this one bothered her.

She sighed, flipping through the papers and looking at the images of her dead agent. To anyone else, he looked like a junkie and standard criminal. He had been sent out to execute a small handful of rogue agents. It had been working well, they had hit the news as a small string of robberies in Star City. He knew what was being done, and he knew it well. Nothing had ever been connected to ARGUS. As far as the world was concerned, ARGUS didn't exist.

But then there had been a hiccup. The Green Arrow had murdered her operative, and she was stuck between a hard place. Cover up his murder and make it disappear, or keep her fingers crossed and hope that it never came back to her organization. It didn't work that way though, she could not risk exposing ARGUS if there was an investigation into the murder. Now she was sitting on the only evidence that the Green Arrow, that Oliver had executed a man.

She was perplexed, and dismayed by everything that had sat in front of her. Lyla knew the history, she knew more about Oliver Queen than he probably ever knew that she did. She knew a lot more about him than even John did. She knew about Lian Yu, and she knew about Russia and China. She knew everything that Amanda Waller had ever known and more.

This was outside of Oliver's usual wheelhouse, it had been a long time since he had killed someone. She considered that it had been her only option, but it didn't seem reasonable. Multiple times, she had seen what he could do. He could have gotten out of this without murder. Given, that would have been a much stickier situation for her had her operative gotten arrested for the murders. None of this was particularly easy.

So, she sat her contemplating the information that she had and wondering what to do with it. She considered going down to the bunker and confronting him about it, but then she would have to expose her hand in it. That idea didn't especially appeal to her. She considered pulling Johnnie into it, and didn't like that much better. He and Oliver were on the outs, and she didn't want to admit to him how the situation had been dealt with. He would not approve, especially when he found out that one of them was targeted beside his pregnant wife.

Lyla scrubbed her hands over her face, picking up the file and locking it away. She wondered if and when she would come to regret this. Certainly the day would come, it always did. At the moment, there was no easy answer but to put it away and forget about it. This was just one more peril of the job that she had signed up for.

Fleetingly, she considered telling Felicity. Your husband murdered someone, she imagined herself saying the words. It wasn't necessary. But what would that cost her?

Quickly, pushing all thoughts away, Lyla locked the cabinet, and hoped that it was all one big mistake that would just slip away into the darkness. One more secret she could lock away and forget about.

Johnnie walked into the room just after, and she looked to him with a smile.

"This is a surprise." Lyla said, settling down at her desk. "I hope you're not here for a raise."

John laughed, "I'd never say no, but the benefits are worth it. Are you busy?"

"No,not at all." Lyla said, "Lunch?"

"Roger just told me about a great little thai place that opened up." John told her, "Sounded like it was just up your alley."

"I'm in." Lyla told him, rifling through the desk and handing him a card. "Before I forget, Felicity and Oliver sent out thank you cards. I thought you might like a look at it."

John froze for a moment, and then took the card like nothing happened. He accepted it and took a moment glancing it over.

"That's great." He said, "I'm glad their happy."

She wondered about that as she took the card back. He didn't seem as happy here. Lyla had never seen her husband as fulfilled as he had been working with Oliver. Just the mention of Oliver was like bringing up someone who had died.

Again, she considered all the of the segue ways into the conversation they could have about the folder that had been on her desk minutes ago, but she just placed the card back into her desk and grabbed her coat.

They all had secrets, didn't they?

. . .

She was considering precisely how to address it. Oliver repeatedly written it off as no big deal, with a lowercase d. Felicity did not agree, even remotely.

More than once, she had seen an Oliver Queen outburst and then so much more than that.

Felicity had called the return to to talk to the server and sent over a $500 tip in addition to what she had left before hoping it would go away. Hitting the news wouldn't improve the situation at all. The server had apologized profusely again, and it seemed like that was the end of it in that end .

It certainly wasn't over though.

More than ever, she didn't like that he was out there on his own. Felicity knew how overextended he was. He was stressed out at the office, and while he would never admit it, she knew it was hard for him to be out there on his own. Even at the beginning, he had John on his side and now he was alone.

Felicity lay in bed, thinking, and thinking some more. She turned, as difficult as it was, and looked at him.

"Well," She said finally, waiting for him to look at her. "I talked to him. Robbie, our server. He agreed that he would not go to the media."

Felicity paused, waiting again to see what Oliver would say.

"He should have been more cautious." Oliver said, "He could have hurt you."

"That's it?" She said, "Is that all you really have to say?"

She felt a tingling wave of annoyance with him. He could not be that stupid and hardheaded.

"You assaulted a waiter, Oliver!"

Felicity bit down on her tongue. Thea and Roy were just down the hall, and if William was still awake downstairs she didn't want him especially to hear them arguing. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the wave of anger she felt.

"I was worried." Oliver said in a even voice. "I took it too far. I'm sorry. It won't happen again, Felicity."

She wasn't done, not remotely, but then his phone rang. For a moment, they just stared at each other but when she saw it was Quentin she gave in.

"Well, you better answer it, shouldn't you?"

Felicity pulled herself up against the pillows and watched as he answered the phone. She had a feeling that this might be the end of their conversation for the moment. It was only ever bad news when Quentin called at night.

Oliver exchanged a few short answers over the phone, and it was only a couple minutes before he got out of bed and started pulling clothes out of the closet. It answered her question quickly. The conversation had been put on pause.

A few moments later, he ended the call with Quentin and looked at her.

"I have to go to the office." Oliver said, scrubbing his hands through his hair. "The teachers are going on strike tomorrow. Quenin got the union leaders to come in and speak with us."

Felicity sighed, she couldn't argue that. "Well, they are underpaid."

"There's only so much money." Oliver said, looking frustrated. "I'm not sure what we can do."

"Open mind." She suggested, "Call the driver though, you look tired."

"He's on call in case you need him." Oliver reminded her, crossing the room and kissing her. "I'm fine. I want him here in case anything happens."

Felicity rolled her eyes. That seemed unlikely. Her mother said that she had been so late that they'd had to evict her from the womb. She wasn't thrilled about Oliver leaving in the middle of their conversation, but she was used to it. This was just a side effect of the lives they lived.

"Make sure you get some sleep." Oliver told her, quickly dressing. "Dr. Lau said you need a minimum of eight hours. If anything come up, call me. Adam knows to bring me any calls."

"I'm fine." Felicity assured him. "If you're there until the morning though, really, just use the driver. You're not getting enough sleep."

"I don't need much sleep." Oliver reminded her, his eyes twinkling. "I'm ready for all of those late night feedings."

He kissed her again, then slipped into his suit jacket.

"This conversation isn't over." Felicity reminded him at the door. "We need to talk about this, Oliver."

"I never imagined otherwise." He said, "We'll talk tomorrow."

Felicity sighed, settling into her pillows as he left. She was sure, but she was also incredibly tired. Oliver seemed so normal now, and she couldn't figure out what had triggered this. She thought maybe she would bring it up with Roy, he and Oliver talked, and she was sure he was breakable.

After all, she thought, feeling herself starting to drift away. She'd broken him before.

. . .

William had been nervous when he heard his dad left, but he'd heard the unmistakable sound of his dad's work shoes. Quietly, he peeked out the door and saw that he was wearing his suit and tie, and went back to bed with a sigh of relief. He was sure that everything was okay.

He knew that something was going on between his dad and Felicity and he was worried about them. He couldn't imagine what would happen if they broke up. Would Aunt Thea and Uncle Roy stay here with them? Would Felicity go and stay with her mom? When, if ever, would he see her and his sister?

William didn't know that they were fighting about, but he knew that Felicity was upset and his dad was ignoring it. He nudged his door shut quietly and went back to bed.

It would be horrible to be on their own. He loved his dad, but he couldn't imagine it just being only them again. He loved Felicity too, and he was excited to have a baby sister. He'd been thinking a lot about all of the plans that they had. Felicity had said that after school was over they were going to take a family vacation, and dad would be there for all of it. No mayor stuff, no saving the city stuff, just all of them being a family together.

William also realized that there was something that had been going on between his Aunt Thea and Uncle Roy. Thea had been really upset when Roy went out and saved his dad, and he didn't understand why. All he knew was that if Roy wasn't there, then maybe his dad never would have come home. How could she be mad about that?

He hoped baby Laurel never had to worry about dad coming home, because it was awful. William still found himself hoping that after they were in their new house, and Laurel was born that his dad wouldn't have to do out there anymore as the Green Arrow.

William lay in bed thinking about how they would be a normal family, and he'd never have to worry about his dad coming home anymore.

He thought about how excited he was about about them all being together. Maybe there were wouldn't be anymore fighting. He had heard dad and Felicity after creeping halfway up the stairs. Dad had done something at a restaurant and felicity didn't like it. William wondered what happened. He hears Felicty and Aunt Theaaa complaining about dad being over protective. It sounded like his dad.

In a moment, he found himself making that decision. He wanted to be like that for Laurel, he wanted to make sure no one ever hurt her, and he wanted to make sure that she was never sad, not even for a moment.

. . .

"Thea!" Felicity yelled, devolving into a sort of panic that she had thought she was over prepared for.

Her stomach had been bothering her, and she hadn't been sleeping well. It had been painful, but she had been tossing and turning and she had written it off as fake contractions, probably the Braxton Hicks that she had read about. Then it had gotten worse.

She had started pacing the room, usually stretching her legs and walking around made them go away. And then she felt her water break, liquid pooling around her feet on the bedroom floor.

Oliver was supposed to be here, she thought. They were supposed to talk it through, do the breathing exercises from the class they took. She stumbled back onto the bed as she felt an immeasurable pain, struggling to reach for her phone.

"Thea! Roy!" She wailed loudly, never expecting it to be so painful.

She was surprised, a minute later William burst into her room.

"I heard yelling. Felicity, what's happening."

For the moment, the pain passed and she was able to find the words.

"Hand me my phone William. Get Thea and Roy. The baby is coming. I have to call you dad."

William responded quickly, almost like he had prepared for it. He grabbed her phone from the bedside table and handed it to her. After that, he dashed across the hall.

"Roy, Thea!" She could hear him yell through the door. "Felicity needs you. The baby is coming."

She focused on pressing Oliver's number while the pain was at a minimum. She was worried, this was earlier than expected. Her due date was three weeks away, there was so much that she hadn't done yet.

Felicity took a breath, listening to the phone ring and ring. It seemed to take forever until his assistant Adam answered the phone.

"I need to talk to Oliver. It's an emergency."

"Yes, Mrs. Queen. Just one moment."

She waited, feeling incredibly impatiently as Roy and Thea rushed into the room.

"I'm waiting for Oliver." She said.

Thea looked panicked. Roy asked where her hospital bag was, and she pointed to it.

Roy grabbed it, and dashed out of the room, dragging William with him.

"We should go." Thea said, an urgent look crossing her face. "Now."

"I'm waiting for Oliver." She said.

"It's a cell phone." Thea said, pulling her up from the bed. "Talk to him in the car."

They were frozen for a moment as she squatted and doubled over in pain with another contraction. This time, Felicity managed to stifle a cry.

It passed, and she followed Thea down the stairs. They met Roy at the second staircase in the hallway, looking immeasurably worried. As the two of them guided her down the stairs, Oliver finally was brought to the phone.

"My water broke." Felicity found that her voice broke as she announced the news to them. "I'm with Roy and Thea. We're on our way to the hospital."

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked, she could tell by his breath that he was running. "Felicity, are you feeling okay?"

"Fine." In reality, she felt lightheaded and delusional, it seemed impossible that it was finally happening.

They stuck her in the back of Roy's sports car, and Thea sat with her.

"We're on our way to the hospital." She said, "We're leaving now."

"I love you." Oliver said, "I'm on my way. I'll be there in minutes."

"We'll be right behind you." Felicity said, "I love you."

She ended the call, and doubled over crying out in pain and clutching Thea's hand as another contraction overtook her. In this moment it occurred to her, they were no longer preparing to be parents. In a short time, they _would_ be parents.

. . .


	9. Chapter 9

Flawed Design

Chapter 9

. . .

Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed or favorited.

. . .

Oliver was stunned and amazed. As he held his baby girl in his arms everything seemed to fade away. He forgot about all the secrets that he was keeping, he forgot about everything that he had been worrying about. It felt like from this moment out, life would be perfect.

"We better get on the waiting list." Felicity joked, she was clearly exhausted.

"What waiting list?"

"For the good schools." Felicity reminded her, "We don't want her to struggle through public school like me"

"Well," Oliver leaned against the bed, brushing her hair away from her forehead. "Her mom is the smartest woman I know, so I think she'll do fine."

Felicity fell asleep, and he called William into the room. He knew that she could kill him for missing it, so he took out his phone as soon as he handed the baby to him.

"So this is your baby sister," Oliver said, recording the moment between them. "What do you think of her?"

"She's so pretty." William said, holding her close to his chest, just like his dad had taught him. "She had blue eyes, just like us."

"And Felicity's nose." Oliver smiled, looking at his son and daughter. It felt like a perfect moment. A part of him wished Felicity was awake to see it, but after 30 long hours she had earned some sleep.

It had taken longer, and been more difficult then he'd imagined for his daughter to come into the world.

"I can't wait to teach her how to catch." William said, "Then she'll be the best in her class, because she'll have us to teach her."

"Or maybe she'll be better at non athletic things." Oliver reminded his son, after all, athletics had not been Felicity's strong suit.

William loved his baby sister immediately, and it was as clear as his love for Thea. It was sort of instant love, the kind he recognized. Like the first time he held his baby sister. He still remembered the first time he held his own baby sister in his arms and he'd vowed to never let anything bad happen to her. He had failed his sister, but he wouldn't fail his daughter."

Thea walked in, and he sighed, William wasn't going to like this, he thought.

"Roy and Thea are going to take you home," Oliver said. "It's time for you to get some sleep."

"But I want to stay." He objected obstinately, "with you and Felicity."

"You have to get some sleep, or I'm going to be until all night worrying about you." Felicity told him, "I need you to go home, get a good night's sleep, and bring me back one of those cherry danishes so I don't have to eat hospital food. I'm counting on you. And text the pictures to Donna, she's pretty upset that she missed this."

William sighed, handing his sister back to his dad.

"Ok, I will." he said. "I'll bring two."

William hugged both of them, and gave his sister a kiss.

"I'll be back tomorrow," he told Laurel. "Be good for mom and dad."

Oliver was stunned by his wording for a moment, but let it pass without saying anything.

"We'll see you tomorrow. Do what your aunt tells you."

"I will."

After a moment of goodbyes, the three of them left and Oliver and Felicity were left alone with their daughter.

"She's incredible." Oliver said, "You were incredible. How do you feel?"

"Tired." Felicity said with a long sigh, cradling her daughter in her arms. "She was worth it though."

"She was." Oliver agreed, taking the baby from her arms as the nurse came in. "It looks like its time for you to get some sleep too."

Felicity smiled, "Yeah, I guess so. Are you going to call my mother?"

"She'd probably on the plane now." Oliver told her, handing Laurel to the nurse. "We have calls from our friends in Central City though, and Lyla asked to come and see you whenever you're ready."

Oliver sat with her, waiting for her to fall asleep. He assured her that he would make the needed calls, and started with Quentin. Oliver sent him a picture of the baby, telling him that she was born healthy and perfect. Quentin asked to visit tomorrow, and Oliver told him that they would love for him to. It would be good timing, he thought. They wanted to ask Quentin to be Laurel's godfather.

After that, Felicity seemed sound asleep so he stepped into the hall and phoned Lyla. He was stunned and surprised when not Lyla, but John answered the phone.

"Hello John." Oliver tread lightly, "Did you hear the news?"

"Lyla told me earlier," John said, "How are they?"

"Felicity is doing great, she's sleeping now. Our daughter is healthy and doing well."

"I'm really happy for both of you." John told him, "You're going to be a great father, Felicity will be a great mother."

"Your welcome to come." Oliver said after a moment, trying to finally extend the olive branch to his old friend. "We'd—I'd love for you to meet her."

"We will." John said, "How is William doing with it?"

"I don't know when I've seen him this happy. He seems really excited about being a big brother."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be a great one." John told him, "I really am happy for you Oliver, you and Felicity deserve all of it."

"Thank you." Oliver said finally. "It's been good to hear from you John."

"We'll talk again soon." John said, "Enjoy it all when you can, it moves along fast man."

As the call ended, Oliver found himself thinking about how far things had gotten between them. He missed their friendship, and it had felt so good talking to him…like nothing had ever changed.

Oliver sighed, shaking his head and dialed Barry Allen.

"Hey Oliver!"

He heard wind in the background and rolled his eyes.

"Barry, can you stop for a moment?"

"Yeah, sure." A second after it was quiet in the background. "What's going on?"

"Felicity had the baby. Laurel is a healthy eight-pound girl. Felicity wanted to let everyone know right away."

"Oh man, Oliver that is so awesome." Barry said, "Iris is going to be so excited to see her. She loves babies. We were sending out a gift later, maybe I should run it out tonight. I can be there like, now."

Oliver heard a rush of wind, and before he could process it any further Barry Allen was standing in front of him with balloons and a gift basket with books and stuffed animals.

"Barry Allen." Oliver laughed, and gave him a hug. "It's good to see you."

"I was going to do a twofer." Barry said, setting the basket and balloons on the floor next to Oliver. "I had it all planned out. Felicity told me about how William had this superhero birthday party right after her due date and I was going to do them both at once, but I'll be back."

Barry shrugged, "We have another reason to visit now, so Iris won't kill me for being here without her."

"Thank you," Oliver said, he knew how excited William would be for a cameo of the Flash. "And are you sure?"

"Maybe?" Barry seemed to be thinking it over. "How could I pass this up? Felicity and Oliver? It's pretty epic."

Oliver laughed, putting his arm around Barry's shoulder. "Come get a look at her.

He led Barry through the maternity wing, and they looked through the glass at the babies. Laurel Queen was in the second row.

"She's beautiful." Barry said, "She has Felicity's nose, and your eyes."

"She is perfect." Oliver said, smiling as he looked over his daughter.

Laurel was perfect, and he knew from the moment on he would make sure that she would never feel an ounce of sadness or pain. He would do whatever it took to give her a good life.

. . .

The apartment was packed. It was truly a full house. Donna had started out staying on the couch, but the last few nights she had been staying with Quentin. Felicity chose to not ask too many questions about that. Roy and Thea were still in the guest room, and Roy and Oliver had been working swiftly, trying to get things into the news house.

Everything was chaos, Felicity thought. Occasionally, she had gone to do things and random things were just missing. At one point, they had realized that the diapers had accidently been in a box that had been moved and Oliver had to make a late night run to pick more up. For a short time, Laurel had been using a Star Labs t-shirt as a diaper.

Really, the last couple of weeks had felt like utter madness. There had been a constant flow of visitors and a pile of gifts. Just thinking of all of the thank you's to be sent out overwhelmed her. Laurel was such a good baby though, and while sleep had been minimal, the nights of just holding and feeding her had been worth it. She had never seen Oliver as happy, as content as he looked with the baby in his arm and a bottle in hand feeding her. He even seemed to enjoy the late night diaper changes.

Roy and Thea had been working through the night as well, they were looking as haggard as the rest of them as they slowly got things packed up, moved into the new house and set up and unpacked. They were all optimistic that by the end of the week they could be in their new home.

Today was a quiet day though. Oliver was in the office, and Quentin and Donna were at home with her fawning over the baby. It was nice to hand Laurel over to them for a few minutes and have a moment of rest.

"She's perfect." Quentin said, for the umpteenth time cradling baby Laurel in his arms. "Not much of a crier though, Laurel would just wail sometimes. Dinah and I used to think she just liked to hear the sound of her own voice."

Felicity laughed, "Hopefully she won't pick up that quality."

"Of course not." Donna said, "This little baby girl is a perfect angel."

Donna had already taken to grandparenthood quickly with William, and just as easily she fell into the roll with Laurel. She was already hinting at maybe trying to find a job in Star City.

Felicity tried to not think about that too much. She hadn't lived in the same town as her mother for well over a decade, and she wasn't sure she was ready for that. Donna had a lot of opinions. She had given up on the idea that that there would not be a b'rit bat or Kiddush. They just weren't religious people, and she wanted to keep their baby away from media scrutiny for as long as possible. Magazines were already trying to get pictures of the Queen baby. She planned on fighting that for as long as they could.

Thea stepped into the living room, looking tired and slightly out of breath.

"Roy and I are taking another trip to the new house." She said, "We're going to finally clear out the guest bedroom, so we're thinking that we might stay the night there, so that we can keep unpacking."

"Why don't you sit down for a minute?" Felicity told her, "You guys have been moving nonstop, you look exhausted."

Thea shook her head, and leaned against the wall.

"We're making really good progress. Ollie is going to take off tomorrow to help. Roy thinks that we can get the kitchen, living room, and guest bedroom done today. We're going to get it there, unpacked, catch a few hours of sleep and come back in the morning. Then we'll get William's stuff and your stuff on the truck. He thinks that it'll be fine for you and Laurel to come tomorrow night."

She couldn't argue the progress. Their kitchen was empty apart from a few odds and ends, the guest bedroom was empty, and she got the impression that her sister-in-law needed them to move so that she had Roy could get the furniture in the moving van.

"Well," Felicity clapped her hands together. "Why don't you two put Laurel down for a nap. Thea and Roy are going to need to clear this room out."

"What can I do to help?" she asked, feeling bad as she watched them do all of the hard work and heavy lifting.

"Go take a nap." Roy told her. "Thea and I have this."

Felicity frowned, but they might have a point. She wasn't supposed to do any heavy lifting, and there were some thank you cards that she needed to sign and get in the mail.

"Fine," She said begrudgingly, retreating to William's room.

As the house had been cleared out, she had been using William's desk for work. Hers was at the new house. Felicity looked at the desk, but thought again. She really was hankering for that nap Roy suggested. She laid down on William's bed, deciding to shut her eyes for thirty minutes. She would get to the cards after.

. . .

Oliver was frustrated.

He was supposed to be at the office, but he had his chief of staff making his excuses for him. This one time, he was relieved that Thea wasn't on his team anymore. He'd been spending the day at the bunker, working out the rage and frustration that he felt.

There was a lot that he did not understand. The man he killed, his death had never hit the news. The new drug craze, Stardust was making Vertigo look like candy. Once again, the city was falling apart and he didn't have any answers. He was struggling to figure out how to balance what was happening in his streets with his family at home.

The rage was getting worse, and he realized it. Little things were triggering him, something as small as William being late to breakfast and spilling his juice filled him with anger. He had been pushing it further and further down. He was coming here every day, sometimes multiple times of day to work it out.

He knew that he had dodged a bullet. The conversation about his outburst in the restaurant had fallen to the wayside after Laurel's early birth. Oliver was sure that it would come back up at some point. For now, he was doing what he had assured Roy that he would. He was managing it just like he said he was.

Oliver had been sparring for hours, but he knew that he couldn't stretch it out any longer. He had promised his wife and son that he would pick up dinner and be home. He sat down on the stairs dialed their favorite Italian place, ordering a lasagna and salad.

Just a couple more nights. He laid down on the floor and thought. There were a couple more nights, they would be settled in the new house and everything would be fine. The stress was going to go away, he would go back out on the streets, the police would be on top of the drug problem in the city, and it would all be okay. He stretched out, closing his eyes for a moment and trying to focus on Felicity and William, and Laurel and Thea and Roy. He owed it to all of them to keep it together.

A nice dinner, he thought. He would sit over dinner and make small talk about his day with his wife. It would be a miniscule lie. Felicity would tell him about her day with Laurel, each bottle and diaper change and William's return from school. They would get William in bed, and spend some time with Laurel, he thought tonight was a bath night for her. After that they would lay in bed together, and maybe talk about their new home, maybe talk about the company she and Curtis wanted to start up. Some nights she just complained about how Donna wanted to move to Star City and how she couldn't believe that her mother and Quentin were rekindling their romance.

Any of it, any of those conversations were exactly what he was looking for. He just couldn't wait to get home and lay in bed with her and feel the vestiges of normal life that he still held.

. . .

William had been tiptoeing around the house. Raisa was on vacation, and when he got home from school Felicity was asleep in his bed, and Thea and Roy were napping in his parents' bed. He had really wanted to come home and play Fortnite on his computer, but the desire had faded away and he sat in the empty living room feeling antsy.

It was so boring, he thought. He couldn't wait until they were in the new house. He kept feeling the itch to get into his bedroom and play his game, but he knew that he shouldn't do anything to wake up Felicity. His dad said that she needed to heal and get lots of rest, and it seemed like they didn't at night. He heard Laurel crying a lot at nighttime.

William hoped his step-mother would wake up soon. He'd even settle for Mr. Lance or Donna coming back. Donna was teaching him blackjack, and he had started learning how to count cards—he was getting better at it. Mr. Lance was always game for anything, except for card games. He, William learned, didn't think gambling was appropriate for kids.

It wasn't like they ever bet actual money.

William sighed, wishing that even the TV was still in the living room. He'd settle for cable at this point. It was all so boring. He pulled out the book that he was supposed to be reading for school and started to read, hoping someone would wake up soon or his dad would get home.

Maybe Thea and Roy would wake up soon, he thought. Roy said he owned him a trip to the arcade, and tonight would be perfect for it. He didn't know what dad had planned for dinner, but the arcade and Big Belly Burger was probably better than what he had planned. Roy even let him get a milkshake with dinner, and his dad and Felicity never let him do that.

He sat for a long time reading _To Kill a Mockingbird_.

By the time that he had heard any shuffle of sound in the apartment, he was reading about Jem and Scout sneaking into the courthouse to see the trial, but he slammed the book shut and jumped up in excitement to see anyone.

Felicity was walking out of the bedroom with a yawn and a stretch of her arms over her head. His dad was also home. He heard the key in the door. He dashed over, trying to catch her before his dad walked in and get permission for some time playing his game before dinner.

In his hurry to catch her, he slid on the floor and knocked her over. They both tumbled to the ground.

"Are you okay?" William said hurriedly, he knew he had been going to fast. He wasn't paying attention. "I'm sorry."

"William!"

His dad's voice chilled him. He was sure he was in trouble again. It seemed like he was in trouble all of the time anymore. The littlest things set his dad off. He'd spilled milk at dinner last night and his dad had sent him to his room.

Oliver pulled them from the floor, and he waited for his dad to yell.

"Are you okay?" He looked between the two of them. "William, what were you thinking? What if she was holding your sister? Felicity, did you pull any stitches?"

Before he could say anything, Felicity brushed herself off and looked him over.

"Oliver," She said in a very firm voice, "You're being ridiculous. All we did is run into each other. Why don't you get dinner ready and I'll get Roy and Thea?"

Felicity turned to William after Oliver was gone.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, "Don't worry about your dad. He'd just stretched really thin these days, he needs to get some sleep."

"Fine." He mumbled, tempted to tell her about how sick he was of how his dad seemed angry with him all the time. "I'm sorry, Felicity."

"It was just an accident." She said, "Don't worry about it. Why don't you wash up for dinner, and then you can play your game for the rest of the night if you want."

Felicity turned to walk up the stairs and he went into his bathroom to wash up. He just hoped that his dad would be back to normal soon.

. . .

Dinner was awkward and uncomfortable. Roy had overheard the harsh words between Oliver and his son, and he had made a determination. It didn't matter what the cost was, he was going to tell Felicity and Thea the truth. Oliver was different, and Oliver was changed, and maybe if they knew the choice they could fix it. Maybe Thea could get Nyssa to work some league magic, or maybe Felicity could do what she did.

Either way, he couldn't keep walking around like a loose cannon.

It had taken him a long time to come to this conclusion. Oliver was his friend, and he didn't want to betray him. He didn't want to admit to Thea, of all people that he had lied to her, that he had betrayed the trust that she had in him. The months that passed had shown him how wrong he was.

There would be a cost, he knew that. He knew this would come at a cost for both of them. There was a good possibility that his fiancée might never forgive him, there was a chance Oliver might kill him. Even Oliver must realize it, he thought. They were playing with fire. Every day that nothing was said was a gamble.

The idea of Oliver snapping on his children filled him with fear.

Roy remembered what it had been like to be in fear of his own father. He remembered what it was like to cower in a corner and just hope that he just wouldn't notice him. He remembered what it was like to wish that he was invisible, deaf, and blind. He remembered wishing he could cease to exist so he wouldn't need to experience it.

He'd been wrong from the beginning, he decided. Never should he have agreed to the ridiculous lie, to cover up what had happened in that warehouse. If everyone had known, maybe it would have been fixed by now.

"I'm good." He said as Oliver offered him more lasagna. "I don't have much of an appetite."

Roy had his plan. He would wait until William went to his room. He usually got behind his desk and put on headphones after dinner. Then and there, he wouldn't put it off any longer.

He would admit everything they knew, and it would be fixed. He expected to face the wrath of Nyssa Al Ghul for his deception, but that too would be worth it as long as she could make him right again.

Someone, somewhere had to have the ability to make Oliver right again.

The night spiraled out of control so quickly though, like nothing he had ever imagined.

It started out with Oliver telling him no video games, that he had to pack. William was upset, Felicity told him he'd have the rest of his night to play. William told him he hated him, jumping up and flipping the flimsy cars table over. He had Thea ended up with the rest of the tray of lasagna in their laps. Quietly, quickly, they cleaned it up and the argument escalated.

"You're angry all the time now." William yelled at him, "You're never home. You never spend any time with me. I wish I never found out you were my dad!"

Oliver seemed incensed, more so than the conversation called for. Felicity asked William to go to his room and he didn't budge, the two Queen men continued to argue in a stalemate.

Felicity interjected, placing herself between William and Oliver.

"William, you've said a lot of hurtful things." she said. "I think you need to go to your room and think about what you've said."

"He's a jerk!" William said, looking angrily between them.

"Oliver. Oliver!"

Felicity grabbed him, and yanked at his arm. "Oliver, what are you doing? What is wrong with you?"

He turned and grabbed her by the neck. It reminded him of the first time he ever heard a gun go off. There was chaos and screaming, and it happened just as quickly. Thea screamed at him to stop, William because hysterical, yelling at Oliver to stop it, that he was hurting her.

Roy dove across the table, in the moment that it took for everything to escalate so quickly he regretted every last second that he'd had an opportunity to say something. He got ahold of Oliver, putting him in the same hold his friend had taught him and his grip dropped from Felicity. Felicity was out of breath as Oliver stumbled back, and took a swing at Roy. Roy took it on the side of his head, feeling a white hot pain that radiated through his body. Luckily, he thought, you didn't grow out of being able to take a beating.

Oliver charged at him like a man possessed. From the corners of his eye he saw Thea pull William out of the room. Roy swung back, kicking Oliver to the chest and prayed it would be good enough. He was out of practice, if Oliver got a good hold on him he didn't know if he would get out of it.

He could hear Felicity screaming at Oliver to stop, but it didn't seem to resonate with him at all. Oliver stumbled back with the kick but kept coming.

Roy dodged another hit and hit Oliver squarely. This hit left him sprawled out, and for a moment, he didn't move, didn't say anything.

He looked back to see Thea by the door with William and Laurel. "Felicity?" Thea asked, "Felicity, you need to go. I don't know what's wrong, but we have to go."

Roy looked between them and saw the hesitation in her eyes. She was clearly torn between William and Laurel, and then Oliver. Oliver that had displayed a level of violence that none of them had ever seen before.

"Felicity, it isn't safe for them."

"Felicity, Felicity please…" Oliver stumbled up from the ground, looking normal but bruised and dazed. "I'm sorry. I'm—"

"No." Felicity shook her head, "No, Oliver."

She turned her back, walking away from him and taking Laurel from Thea's arms. Roy waited for her to look back, and she didn't.

Roy watched Thea, and walked away. He wanted to look back to Oliver, he wanted to apologize for letting things get this far, he wanted to take everything he'd done back.

"Roy we're going, now." Thea said, urging William out the door.

"Don't you dare." Thea turned and looked at her brother. "I don't even know who you are right now.

At the door, Roy looked back and regretted it. All of the anger that had been in Oliver's eyes moments ago was replaced. All he saw was a broken man.

What had he done? He thought.

. . .


	10. Chapter 10

Flawed Design

Chapter 10

. . .

Furiously, angrily, Roy punched the steering wheel and swore loudly.

Laurel started to cry, and William looked more terrified then he had minutes ago when Oliver completely lost it.

"Roy, stop it!" Thea exclaimed, resting a hand on his shoulder.

They continued to talk, making plans about where they would go, what needed to be done, but it all escaped her attention. Even the baby's crying didn't pierce through the veil of confusion and horror that surrounded her. She didn't know what happened, she didn't know _how_ this happened. She didn't know what happened to Oliver to cause this. The only thing she could possibly imagine was vertigo, and even then...even then he didn't lay a hand on them.

She had seen Oliver at his very worst, and it didn't even touch this.

It had been the blank look of fury in his face that scared her the most. She could still his hands on her neck, the bruise on her back from where she landed after Roy forced him to let her go. She could still hear William screaming in terror, begging his father to stop and it chilled her to her core. None of it felt real to her at all.

That was not Oliver.

 _Mirakuru_ , she thought. Mirakuru could do that too.

Maybe he didn't know, she considered. The angry outbursts from before made so much more sense now.

"There is a hotel across the street from Palmer Tech." Felicity finally said, not able to handle another second of arguing between Thea and Roy. "Go there."

"William," she turned in the seat and looked at him. "That was not your father. I don't know what happened, and I'm going to fix it, but that wasn't Oliver."

"Ollie would never hurt you guys." Thea pulled William into a hug in the backseat. "We'll figure it out."

"It looked like him." William said, a small, scared sound in his voice. "He looked crazy."

"Someone did something to him." Felicity pressed, positive of that if nothing else. "Someone dosed him with something for sure. We'll call Barry, and Cisco and Caitlyn, they can help."

They sat in silence for the remainder of the drive to the hotel, and she wracked her brain for answers, but found none. Felicity shut down all attempts at conversation about Oliver with Roy and Thea until both William and Laurel were finally asleep. She was grateful that Laurel was so young, she would never have to remember this. She just wished that William didn't have to, that he had never seen it happen.

"I need to tell you both something." Roy said, shaking his head and looking like he was about to admit to murder. "You're right, it isn't Oliver's fault, what's wrong with him. It's my fault."

Felicity didn't understand, she couldn't figure how this was possibly his fault, but she didn't have an opportunity to consider it. Thea jumped up from the couch, and launched at Roy in a fury.

" _You didn't!_ Roy, tell me you didn't. Tell me that it isn't possible!"

Thea looked like she was about to hit him with all of the force that her fists could impart, and Roy looked crestfallen.

"What happened?" Felicity asked.

She tried desperately to not think of the only scenario in her mind that could have made Thea that angry at him.

"I saved a vial of water from the Lazarus Pit. For an emergency." Roy squeezed his eyes shut, and then looked at her in apology. "I used it on Oliver. He was going to die. He was dying after he was captured-it was the only option. He was going to die, Felicity. I had to do something."

Felicity didn't have the opportunity to react to this news. Thea hit Roy, and then she hit him again, and then she started to waver with slow, pointless blows to his chest until she started to sob. He tried to reach for her and she shoved him away.

"I-" She held her hand up before he tried to speak again. "I don't want to wake up William, he's been traumatized enough tonight. I'm not-Why? Roy why didn't he tell us? Why didn't _you_?"

Roy seemed pained as he answered this.

"He asked me to keep it a secret, from both of you. And everything seemed okay, but then the thing at the restaurant happened, and he swore he had it under control. He was keeping it under control."

"He asked you to lie?" Felicity repeated, her throat going dry as she tried to form the words.

He nodded his head.

"I just-" Felicity shook her head, unable to come up with the words.

It felt impossible that he had lied to her again, lied to her about his. About the biggest change their life would ever face.

Laurel started to cry, and it brought her back to the reality of the situation. Right now Laurel and William were her priority.

"I have to figure this out later." Felicity said, "She's hungry."

As she walked away, she could hear the soft argument in Thea 's voice, and the pain that radiated from her tone. She was relieved to close the bedroom door behind her and not have to hear it a second longer, because it reminded her too much of how she felt.

Betrayed, and hurt by the man she loved. That was how she felt.

. . .

 _It's my fault._

As the words left Roy's mouth, it triggered something in her. There was a small part of her that had been unsettled from the first time that he had suggested, so long ago, that they save some of the water from the pit. But she had told him, she had reminded him of the horrors they inflicted, what they had turned Ra's into, what they had done to her and Sara. It wasn't a horror that should be inflicted on anyone.

It didn't matter that he saved Oliver, if you could even call it that. Oliver wasn't saved. Oliver was a monster who would attack his wife and son, and that was not the man her brother was.

He hadn't brought back Oliver, but a pale imitation, and it hurt so much worse than losing him for good.

Thea jumped up from the couch, confronting him, and looking into his sea blue eyes with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"You didn't do it! Roy, tell me you didn't do it. Tell me it isn't possible!"

The flicker in those blue eyes that she had loved so much, loved for as long as she could remember gave her all of the answer she needed. Thea was filled with anger, rage at him—not just for what he did, not even just for betraying her trust, but that he had lied right to her face.

"I saved a vial of water from the Lazarus Pit. For an emergency." Roy squeezed his eyes shut, and then looked at her in apology. "I used it on Oliver. He was going to die. He was dying after he was captured-it was the only option."

In the beginning, she felt the contact of her fists on his chest and he wavered underneath her. Roy didn't move away, and soon she lost it. Lost her motivation, her faith, the desire to try and fight back—make him feel half of the pain that she was feeling right now.

Thea's cry turned into deep sobs, and he tried to pull her close to him. She yanked away, and he hesitated.

"I-" Felicity held her hand up, declining whatever it was Roy had to say. "I don't want to wake up William, he's been traumatized enough tonight. I'm not-Why? Roy why didn't he tell us? Why didn't you?"

Roy seemed pained as he answered this.

"He asked me to keep it a secret, from both of you. And everything seemed okay, but then the thing at the restaurant happened, and he swore he had it under control. He was keeping it under control."

"He asked you to lie?" Felicity repeated.

He nodded his head.

"I just-" Felicity shook her head, unable to come up with the words.

Laurel started to cry, and Felicity stood up, leaving the room.

"I have to figure this out later." Felicity said, "She's hungry."

"Thea, talk to me." Roy swallowed with some difficulty as she looked at him. "Please."

"You promised me." She said, when the words finally came to her.

Even to her own ears, the words felt muddy with tears.

"You promised me you would never take it, never ever use it for any reason. I gave you every opportunity in the world to tell me the truth after…"

Roy tried to reach for her again, his eyes shining with the same earnest look that nearly inspired her to stay with him the last time he had lied to her. She found the memory of lie after lie after lie washing over her.

"No! You promised me!" She said, struggling to keep her voice down. "I trusted you, Roy Harper. I trusted you more than anyone else in the world and…you broke my heart."

Roy had no words, and she didn't really feel like there was much at all that was left to be said. What else was left to be said, he had lied to her and betrayed her trust. It was something they all seemed to have in common.

Thea closed her eyes, and took a breath, tugging the ring Roy gave her off of her hand and tossing it at him.

"You should leave." She told him finally, struggling to keep her voice steady. "Maybe stay with Oliver. You seem to have a lot in common, especially when it comes to telling lies to the people you're supposed to love."

"Thea-" Roy made one last attempt, and she turned her back on him.

From the moment she turned away, she promised herself that she would not look back at him. She would walk into her bedroom, lie down, and cry—but she wouldn't give that to him. Not after how he hurt her. Thea knew that he had left when she heard the loud click of the hotel room door, and sunk into the bed, burying her face in her hands and sobbing.

. . .

Oliver was drowning in his misery, and it had been interrupted when Quentin Lance started pounding on his door after not showing up for a budget meeting. After the look that Quentin cast about the apartment he explained, because there wasn't really anything else to say.

"She left. She took William and Laurel...they're gone and it's my fault."

Oliver poured another tumbler of vodka and offered it to Quentin before he remembered. "I'm sorry."

He downed his third, maybe fourth and glanced at the bottle again. There weren't any answers, as it turned out. He'd been searching for an answer for nearly two days.

"I don't think that either one of us need that." Quentin told him, removing the bottle from the table and placing it behind him. "Oliver Queen certainly doesn't."

Oliver was silent for a long moment. He finished off the glass that he had accidentally poured for Quentin.

"Oliver, what is going on?" Quentin pled with him. "This isn't the Oliver Queen I know."

"Sure you do." Oliver didn't think he had to remind him. "You know me better than anyone. Anyone that is still alive."

"Talk to me." Quentin told him, "What happened?"

"I hurt my wife. I hit my wife." Oliver corrected himself quickly, "I almost hurt my son. They all left. Roy and Thea ...took them somewhere. I don't know."

He took a deep, long breath. "I don't….I don't know what happened."

"That doesn't sound like you at all." Quentin said, "You've been a lot of things, I've seen every version of you but I can't believe that."

What was the point anymore? No point in keeping it a secret anymore. For all his talk of restraint, he had lost it and he had hurt his wife, of all people. He would never be able to forget the look in her eyes.

"I almost died." Oliver said finally, "A couple months ago. Maybe I was dead. Roy had a vial of the waters from Nanda Parbat and he used it on me. It's not an excuse, it can't be an excuse. I lied, and I asked him to lie for me about it and I hurt my wife. I almost hurt my son. I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't intervened."

Quentin gestured for him to take a seat, and Oliver ignored the suggestion.

"I'm going to tell you something." Quentin said in a heavy voice, "Tell you something I've never told anyone."

Oliver complied with Quentin's story, why not? What did he have now? He lost his family.

"I've been where you've been." Quentin told him, scrubbing his hands over his face. "Without half the excuse you have. I've been here. You can come back from it."

"I _can't_. I can't forgive what I did, and I don't expect Felicity to. I crossed a line."

"You couldn't control yourself. Not anymore than Sarah could when she came back." Quentin told him.

There wasn't any defense. After William, he had promised Felicity that he would never lie to her again. After Roy had saved his life, he should have told her. He knew he should have told her, and he knew he shouldn't have asked Roy to lie for him. He had put his entire family at risk and he couldn't forgive himself, never mind ask them to forgive him.

"I hit Dinah once. I lost my temper." Quentin told him quietly. "It was after we lost Sarah, and the dollmaker case was eating me alive. I never made it right."

Quentin sighed, "Make it right, Oliver."

"I can't ever make it right." Oliver couldn't bring himself to meet Quentin's eyes. "I betrayed my wife in the worst way."

"Make it right." Quentin said. "I swear to you; you need to make this right or regret it until the day you die. Oliver, you have a son and a daughter that need a father in their lives. Don't do this to them."

Quentin walked away, and he listened to the door close behind him. He wanted to make it right. He wanted his family back, he wanted to make it right with his wife, the love of his life. He wanted his children back. He wanted his son with him, he wanted to hold his daughter in his arms again. He wanted to be the man and father that he swore he would be.

. . .

Felicity looked at herself in the mirror and saw the same look that she saw on her mother's face. It horrified her.

She found herself thinking of William and Laurel.

But the thought of Oliver reigned supreme. She had been on his side for as long as she knew him. For everything that they had gone through, she had always been on his side. She had always come back to him.

She considered what she knew. Oliver, the father of their children had almost died. Roy had saved him with waters from Nanda Parbat.

Felicity was filled with anger considering what his would do to their children. She thought of William having to cope with the fallout between them, and Laurel knowing her father the way she had known her own father, as her mother's adversary, as someone who had betrayed both her and her mother.

The image of that filled her with horror. She hadn't imagined them as a perfect family, but they were a happy family. If nothing else, she loved Oliver and he loved her, couldn't that make up for everything?

Felicity kept asking her that question, and came back to the same question. Why didn't he trust her? Why had Oliver lied to her about the most important thing to happen in their lives, ever. She didn't have an answer to it. She considered calling her mother, but there were too many things that she would need to be honest about.

She turned and looked at William, finally asleep on the bed in their room. He had been through more than any of them had, it made her childhood look easy as pie. William was sound asleep, and she was relieved for that. He had been horrified when he watched his father snapped and she wished, she wished above everything else that he wouldn't have to remember it.

The hours passed, and she considered the logistics. Nyssa had cured Thea , maybe she could do something for Oliver. If not, there were certainly other cures. There had to be something.

And then it occurred to her, hours after thinking about how William forgave Oliver she realized it...how was she going to? How would it be right between them again? Oliver had promised that they were equals, that he would never lie to her again.

Felicity sat down in bed next to William, realizing that she was still sore. It had been only weeks since Laurel was born and she was exhausted.

As she laid down, she felt him roll over and his head settle in her lap. She brushed his hair back and cried. He looked so much like Oliver. How was he ever going to recover from this? Of everyone, they owed it to him to make his life good, to make it right.

"I'm sorry." Felicity kissed the top of his head. "We'll make it right William, I promise."

. . .

He stayed up day and night and day and night, over and over trying to figure out how to fix it. How to fix himself. He didn't have an answer. The anger had dissipated long ago, and all he had now was the grief over losing his family. He'd called Felicity and William time and time again and neither one of them answered his calls. He'd left dozens and dozens of voicemails. Quentin had reached out on his behalf and Felicity had told him to leave them alone, she wasn't listening any longer.

He'd tried Thea and she had finally answered.

'Stop calling." She told him, "Leave them alone. You lied to them, you hurt her, hurt William. Ollie. Stop it."

It broke his heart. She thought that if anyone would hear him out it would be her, but she wouldn't have any part of it. It just reminded him how much he hurt all of them. He knew how badly this deception had hurt Thea, but he didn't know the full extent of it.

He didn't think he would hear from any of them until he found Roy at his door days later.

"Thea told me I had to leave." Roy said, looking haggard and heart broken. "She won't forgive me for lying to her. I've been in the Glades."

Roy tossed the ring on the countertop and poured a glass of the vodka that he hated.

"It's over. She told me to leave and never come back." Roy scrubbed his hands over his face.

Oliver added this to his list of casualties. Not only had he hurt his wife and children, he had destroyed his sister's happiness, and hurt the one friend he had left, the one friend who had remained at his side.

Sorry didn't seem to cut it, but he said it anyways. Even to his own voice it sounded ridiculously hollow.

"I never should have asked you to lie for me. I never should have." Oliver said, pouring a glass for himself. "How are they?"

He was almost afraid to ask the question.

"Angry. Hurt. Betrayed." Roy poured another glass. "Thea doesn't want to see me ever again."

"She doesn't mean it." Oliver said, feeling the guilt overwhelm him. "She's mad at me. You stopped me when I needed to be stopped. I owe you everything, again."

"It wasn't you. I made the choice. I agreed to do it." Roy said, sighing into the empty glass. "Can't we ever be happy? Can't anything just ever work out in our favor?"

"I was." Oliver said, the pain of remembrance stinging at the edges. "I had children and a wife who loved me. I love them."

"They were at the hotel next to Palmer Tech," Roy said after a long moment, sighing heavily. "I'm sure they'll leave. I'm sure Thea figured I'll come here. Felicity was going to take the kids to Central City. She'd been talking to Barry Allen."

Without another word, Oliver grabbed his coat and left. If he ever had a moment to try and make it work again, this was it.

. . .

"You won't see me as an equal." Felicity crossed her arms over her chest. "Every time Oliver, you promise me that we are, you swear you'll never lie to me again. How many times can we do this?"

Felicity had sent William and Laurel away with his sister. They were waiting in the car for her.

Oliver felt lost, like there was an insurmountable climb ahead of him, and he had none of the tools he needed. Part of him had figured that Felicity would never open the door to him, and then he never, ever figured that she would allow him to say anything. But she had, and it had occurred to him that none of the words he had were enough.

"You promised me." Felicity's eyes glistened with tears. "Oliver, we have two children who need us. You promised that you would never lie to me. I'm not mad that you hurt me, I'm mad that you lied to me about it."

"You were pregnant." Oliver pled, "Felicity, I was trying to protect you. I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to scare you."

"Well, you hurt me anyways." Felicity said, her eyes colored with pain. "You hurt me, you hurt Thea, and you hurt William and Laurel. William is _scared_ of you, Oliver."

Her words sliced clear through him like a knife. As much as he expected that it was the truth, it hurt to hear it.

"Let me make it right," Oliver begged her, "I'll give up the green arrow. I would give up everything to have you back."

He had made the vow at home over a bottle of vodka, but standing here, now sober as could be he knew that it was the truth. He could not be the arrow, not the way that he was now. He couldn't continue as the arrow and be a husband and father. He had seen what his nighttime activities did to William, and he couldn't do it to another child. He couldn't leave their future hanging in the balance.

Felicity didn't say anything. Oliver wondered if he had finally reached the point where she could forgive him no more. As much as he wouldn't blame her, he hoped that she could find it inside of her to give him another chance, because he would never forgive himself for losing her. He couldn't even fathom what it would be like to carry on with his life without Felicity. He didn't know how to not have his children in his life—he owed it to them to be a good father, and just needed a chance to make it right.

"Don't take her away from me." Oliver pled, getting down on his knees in front of her. "Felicity, I lost out on ten years of my son's life, don't let me lose Laurel, don't let me lose _you_. I love you."

There was a long, painful moment before Felicity spoke again. To him, it felt like the worst torture he had ever felt.

"Come in." Felicity said after a long moment, closing her eyes like she expected to regret the invitation. "Oliver…"

Felicity shook her head, finally opening her eyes and looking at him squarely.

"Every time, you have disappointed me. You have lied to me. Oliver, I spent my entire life being disappointed and lied to by my own father, you cannot do this any longer. You cannot do this to William and Laurel, or you will destroy them." Felicity looked him over. "What did the lies that your father and mother told you do to you and Thea? You can't do it to William and Laurel. They deserve better than we had."

Oliver scrubbed his hands through his hands, he knew that. He had said it to himself time and time again. Never did he want his children to question him the way he had his own parents.

"I want them to have a better life than that." Oliver told her, "I want to fix it, make things right for our family again. I will do whatever it takes."

Felicity looked at him, hesitation in her eyes, and he pressed forward.

"Can you forgive me?" Oliver asked, "Felicity, I will never forgive myself for what I did to you, but will you? Can you? Will you be my wife again?"

"I've spent a lifetime..." Felicity swallowed the tears that threatened to fall. "Oliver, I will always love you. I want William and Laurel to have a father but you can never, never lie to us, them again."

Felicity asked him again, "Are there any other secrets?"

"I swear." Oliver swore to her, "I will never, never keep anything from you again."

"Give me a minute." Felicity said, stepping away from him again and picking her phone up from the table.

It was a short conversation, but he heard her asking Thea to bring back William and Laurel.

As much as he wanted to hold, see his children, he needed to make things right. William walked right past him, but he took Laurel from Thea's arms. His sister didn't say a word to him, but he knew how she felt. He had seen the same look in her eyes when she looked at Malcolm. The look cut him deep, he had hurt her, and he didn't know how to repair the pain he'd caused her.

"Baby girl" He clung to her, holding her against his chest and feeling incredibly grateful to Felicity for allowing him to touch her again.

Oliver had a moment with her before he saw his sister turn away. There wasn't a chance, there was no way he could leave it like that. He handed Laurel to Felicity, and stopped Thea, grabbing her arm.

"Thea ."

"Don't you dare." Thea told him in a sharp tone. "Felicity may have forgiven you, but I am not forgiving him or you. He asked me to be his wife and he lied to me. You lied to me Ollie, just like Malcolm. I expected more from you."

"I asked him to. I begged him." Oliver said in a quiet voice, "Please don't blame Roy for that."

"Who should I blame?" Thea asked him, an accusing tone in her voice. "You? I'm already furious with you"

"Yes." Oliver told her. "Go back, talk to him please. Thea, Roy loves you. If you leave, it will break him."

"Not enough to tell me the truth. He didn't love me that much." Thea hesitated, "Not enough to not break my heart."

Thea walked toward the door and looked at Felicity.

"You don't need me anymore." She started, grabbing her jacket and walking out the door.

Oliver was at a loss. He was going to stop her again, but Felicity shook her head at him. He conceded to her.

"Felicity," Oliver took their daughter back from her, cringing as the door closed behind them. "Felicity, I will never be able to make up for what happened, for lying to you."

"Start now." Felicity took Laurel from Oliver's arms and gestured to the bedroom door. "Go talk to your son, Oliver."

Oliver hesitated at the door to the bedroom. He had rehearsed a list of things that he would say to Felicity, he had explained everything, told her all that he knew, and for some reason unbeknownst to him, she had chosen to forgive him.

He didn't know how to have this conversation with his son though. How did he explain his outbursts, what he had seen him do to Felicity?

"William?" He called through the door, knocking twice. "William, I'd really like to talk to you."

Oliver sighed as William ignored him and tried the door. It wouldn't open.

He looked back at Felicity, holding their daughter and shaking her head. She crossed the living room, and handed Laurel to him.

"William?" Felicity knocked. "I know you're upset, but you're dad and I need to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to him." William called through the door. "I won't."

The remark cut him deep, and it wasn't until Felicity promised that only she would come in that William cracked the door open. Oliver turned away, and Felicity slipped into the bedroom. As the guilt sunk in, he held Laurel close.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done," Oliver whispered to her. "I'm sorry I hurt your mom and brother, and I swear it will never happen again."


End file.
